Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a list of selected news summaries reported last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Developing the relations with China remains Vietnam’s consistent policy and strategic choice, and a top priority in its foreign policy of self-reliance, multilateralisation, and diversification, said National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man on August 5.

The NA leader told Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo in Hanoi as the latter came to say goodbye at the end of his tenure in the Southeast Asian nation. Read full story

- National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man on August 5 received Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Vietnam Choi Young-sam who has started his term of office in Vietnam.

Man asked the ambassador to convey his thanks to Prime Minister Han Duck Soo - Special Envoy of the Korean President - for leading a Korean delegation to Vietnam to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, which demonstrated the sincere sentiments of the Korean Government and people towards the Vietnamese Government and people and the late Party chief. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 5 requested the continued implementation of a proactive, flexible, timely, effective monetary policy which has proven its efficiency in the past time.

Chairing a meeting on the monetary policy with leaders of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and other ministries and agencies, PM Chinh said that from now until the end of the year, to achieve higher growth, the money supply must be ensured, particularly for traditional growth drivers, and then new drivers, together with measures to control bad debts. Read full story

- Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade Manuel Tovar, empowered by the Costa Rican President, on August 5 announced and handed over a diplomatic note to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) affirming its recognition of Vietnam as a market economy.

The move made Costa Rica the 73rd country in the world to recognise Vietnam's market economy status. Read full story

- The Vietnam Stock Exchange (VNX) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) on August 5 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on boosting their communication channels to promote their relations and serve the interests of the Vietnamese and Singaporean stock markets.

The MoU was signed under the witness of Vietnamese Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung and Singaporean Second Minister of Finance Chee Hong Tat during the visit to Singapore by a delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance. Read full story

- Vietnam’s industrial production has continued its rosy signs since late 2023, promising a bright prospect for the country in the time ahead, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang said at the Government’s regular press conference in Hanoi on August 5.

According to the official, Vietnam's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in July 2024 reached 54.7 points, the highest since November 2018, with output increasing sharply thanks to increasing new orders for four consecutive months. Read full story

- Trinh Van Quyet, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the real estate developer FLC Group JSC, on August 5 was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the charges of "fraudulent appropriation of property" and "stock market manipulation".

Of the total prison term, Quyet, 49, also former Chairman of the Bamboo Airways JSC, got 18 years for "fraudulent appropriation of property" and the remainder for "stock market manipulation" as decided by the Hanoi People’s Court. Read full story

- The Business Association in the northern province of Thai Binh on August 5 coordinated with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry to organise a conference connecting Bangladeshi and Thai Binh businesses.

Besides representatives from the province, the association, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade), 200 businesses from Bangladesh and Thai Binh province attended the conference. Read full story

- President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) Chau Van Minh and Lao Minister of Technology and Communications Boviengkham Vongdara on August 5 co-chaired the third bilateral meeting between the two agencies to discuss ways to promote their cooperation in the coming time.

At the meeting, the two sides updated each other on the implementation of cooperation contents regrading draft proposals on the project on building a data and communication centre on natural disasters (earthquake) for Laos and another on building a national centre for data storage and computing cloud in Laos that the two Governments mentioned in the minutes of the 46th Session of the Vietnam - Laos Intergovernmental Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in 2024./. Read full story