Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and officials at the launching ceremony of the national public service portal on December 9

In 2019, Vietnam recorded a GDP growth rate of 7.02percent despite growing strategic competition in the region and the world. Thisis the second straight year it has fulfilled all 12 targets set by the NationalAssembly, including a record trade surplus of 9.94 billion USD, low budgetoverspending, and inflation under 3 percent. This is also the fourthconsecutive year inflation has been kept under 4 percent. Notably, Vietnamjumped 10 places in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global CompetitivenessReport, becoming the most improved nation in the rankings.

2.Politburo issues first-ever regulation on power control

On September 23, the Politburo issued Regulation205-QD/TW on the control of power in personnel work, which identifies acts ofillegal lobbying for promotion, and covering up and abetting illegal lobbyingfor promotion. The regulation also specifies the responsibilities of relevantorganisations and individuals, along with penalties for the covering up andabetting of such lobbying. 

As preparations are being made for all-levelParty congresses towards the 13th National Party Congress, the implementationof Regulation 205 will help select qualified personnel with sufficient capacityand reputation for the leadership apparatus in the coming tenure.

3. Nationalpublic service portal debuts

On December 9, the national public serviceportal was officially put into use, marking an important milestone in theimplementation of an e-Government that centres on people and businesses. Bygoing to a single address (http://dichvucong.gov.vn) and using a singleaccount, people and businesses can access all public service portals atministerial and provincial levels to handle public services online, followprocedure settlement processes, assess settlements, and send feedbackregardless of time or place.

4.Vietnam elected non-permanent member of United Nations Security Council with192 approval votes out of 193 UN members

On June 7, at the 73rd session of the UN GeneralAssembly, Vietnam won the support of 192 out of the 193 UN members to become anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020 – 2021 term. Thisresult showed the international community’s trust and high evaluation of thecountry’s active, practical and responsible contributions to the UN in general,and the UN Security Council in particular.

The Vietnamese Government pledged to fulfill itsroles as the council’s non-permanent member and as ASEAN Chair in 2020, therebydeserving the international community’s trust and further contributing toregional and global peace, stability and prosperity.

5.Vietnam’s sports delegation wins resounding success at SEA Games 30

The men’s U22 team won the gold medal at SEA Games for the first time (Photo: VNA)

With a record of 98 gold, 85 silver and 105bronze medals, beyond the target of at least 65 gold medals, Vietnam rankedsecond at the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 30) that took place in thePhilippines from November 30 to December 11. Particularly, in football, themen’s U22 team won the gold medal for the first time while the women’s nationalteam obtained their sixth at the tournament.

6.Vietnam fulfills role as host of summit between United States, DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)

Hanoi was chosen as the venue for the second US– DPRK summit on February 27 – 28. By ensuring the thoughtful and safe organisationof the event, Vietnam demonstrated itself as a responsible nation helping toguide international relations and actively contributing to global and regionalpeace. The country was once again recognised as a safe, impressive andhospitable destination that has sufficient conditions and experience to hostbig international events.

7.Vietnamese found dead in container truck in United Kingdom

On October 23, 39 people were found dead in arefrigerated container truck in Essex county, northeast of London, the United Kingdom.Shortly after all the victims had been identified as Vietnamese, the Governmentdirected competent agencies to take all appropriate citizen protection measuresto bring them home. The identification, citizen protection and transportationof the victims’ bodies and ashes were carried out in a humanitarian spirit andin line with international law, as well as the laws and customs of Vietnam andthe UK.

The Vietnamese Government strongly condemned peopletrafficking and illegally sending people abroad. It called on countries in theregion and around the world to press on with cooperation to resolutely preventand eradicate this particularly dangerous crime to avoid similar incidents, andfinalise investigations to prosecute those responsible in an open trial.

8.African swine fever spreads nationwide

On February 19, the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development officially reported the first-ever appearance of Africanswine fever in Vietnam. This is a dangerous disease with no vaccine ortreatment currently available. The whole political system has taken drasticactions to fight the epidemic. By mid-December, nearly 6 million pigs weighingover 342,800 tonnes had been culled, accounting for about 9 percent of total herdsnationwide. The epidemic has led to a pork shortage, pushing pork prices up inthe final months of the year.

9.Consecutive environmental incidents occur

A factory fire at the Rang Dong Light Source andVacuum Flask JSC in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, released 15.1kg – 27.2kg ofmercury into the environment. Waste dumping that polluted the Song Da WaterInvestment JSC resulted in a clean water crisis in many districts of Hanoi formany days. Serious air pollution in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Cityhas negatively impacted people’s health and living environment. Authorities failedto respond in a timely manner, thus affecting people’ lives.

10. Strict punishments for Party organisations, senior officials committingviolations

In 2019, disciplinary measures and criminalpunishments have been considered and issued for many Party organisations andsenior officials found guilty of committing violations, including a formerdeputy prime minister, former ministers, incumbent and former deputy ministers,vice secretaries of provincial Party Committees, chairpersons of provincialPeople’s Committees, incumbent and former secretaries of Party Committees,former executives of State-owned enterprises, Party units at ministries, andthe standing boards of Party Committees of provinces and State-owned firms. Thestrict handling of Party cadres and organisations that committed violations hascontinued to affirm the Party’s viewpoint that there are no “off-limits” zonesin the fight against corruption and negative phenomena, while reflecting theresolve to ensure Party discipline, purify the apparatus, and regain andconsolidate the people’s trust./. VNA