Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s upcoming attendance at the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit and his working trip in China’s Yunnan province from November 5-8 will carry important significance, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s resident reporters in Beijing, Mai said that this is the GMS’s first high-level meeting to be held in-person in the past six years due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read full story

- Deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) will evaluate the progress of the socio-economic development plan for 2024 and discuss a draft plan for 2025 on November 4, as part of their ongoing eighth session in Hanoi.

At the session, which will be broadcast live on the national Vietnam Television and radio The Voice of Vietnam, they will also discuss the implementation of the Constitution, laws, resolutions of the NA, and ordinances, resolutions of the NA Standing Committee, as well as policy on adjusting the National Land Use Planning for the 2021 - 2030 period with a vision to 2050, and the policy on additional investment of State capital at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB). Read full story

- Deputy Defence Minister, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Pham Hoai Nam hosted a delegation of officers from the Ministry of Defence, the Self-Defence Forces, and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) of Japan, in Hanoi on November 4.

The Vietnamese official spoke highly of the close coordination of the Japanese Ministry of Defence and the SPF with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence in implementing the exchange programme between Vietnamese and Japanese field-grade officers over the past seven years, saying that the activity has contributed to strengthening the friendship, cooperation, mutual understanding, and trust between officers of the ministries, the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) and the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) in particular, and between the two peoples in general. Read full story

- A total of 115 foreign suppliers have registered and paid taxes through the electronic portal, contributing over 18 trillion VND (711.88 million USD) to the state budget, according to the Ministry of Finance’s General Department of Taxation (GDT).

Media outlets have covered the issue of unfair competition posed by the e-commerce platform Temu in the Vietnamese market, as it operated without official licensing, engaged in large sales, and drive local businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Read full story

- Given the 10-month performance, authorities believed Vietnam's economic growth is likely to surpass this year’s target, and more efforts are being taken to tackle bottlenecks to growth.

Reporting to the 15th-tenure National Assembly (NA) at the ongoing eighth session, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the economy has been rebounding in 2024, and this year’s growth is estimated at 6.8 - 7%, higher than the target set by the NA. Read full story

- Monthly aquatic exports have exceeded 1 billion USD again in October after more than two years, signaling a rosy future for the industry, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The association reported that export value of aquatic products last month saw a rise of 28% year on year, bringing the total in the first 10 months of this year to 8.27 billion USD, up 11.4% year on year. Read full story

- The High People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on November 4 opened the appellate trial for the case involving property developer Van Thinh Phat Group and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB).

The court is expected to consider the appeals lodged by Truong My Lan, former Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat, and 47 other defendants on charges including “violating regulations on lending activities of credit institutions,” “embezzlement,” “giving bribes,” “receiving bribes,” “abuse of power while performing official duties,” and “violating regulations on banking operations and other activities related to banking operations.” Read full story

- Communes in the central coastal province of Quang Binh have been requested to organise forces, allocate personnel, and provide equipment to monitor the handling of seafood at registered points, as part of the local efforts to help lift the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Accordingly, it is necessary for them to organise strict supervision of seafood purchasing facilities in the area, ensuring that 100% of the fishing vessels unload their catches at designated Type-II and Type-III fishing ports and registered unloading points. Read full story

- Constructing a high-speed railway from the North to the South will create momentum for economic growth, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong.

The North-South high-speed railway project is the largest of its kind to date, with an estimated investment capital of approximately 67.34 billion USD, he said, noting this level of investment will impact economic growth throughout the construction process./. Read full story