I. ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. The President of the Hellenic Republic will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from 15 to 19 May 2022

At the invitation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from 15 to 19 May 2022.
Recently, the traditional friendship between Viet Nam and Greece has continued its positive development. Both sides maintained visits and exchanges by leaders at the high level and all levels, closely cooperated in trade, multilateral cooperation, culture and tourism.

During the visit, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is expected to hold talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and meet with Vietnamese high-level leaders to discuss measures to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.

2. President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will pay an official visit to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 15 to 17 May 2022

At the invitation of President of the National Assembly of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Saysomphone Phomvihane, President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will lead the Vietnamese high-level delegation on an official visit of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 15 to 17 May 2022.

This is an important external relations activity and the first official visit by Vietnamese Party and State leaders to Laos in the 2022 Solidarity and Friendship Year. The visit aims to strengthen the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos, which involves continuing to strengthen and deepen the effectiveness and substance of the comprehensive cooperation between the two National Assemblies.

As part of the visit, President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will hold talks with Lao President of the National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane, meet with high-level leaders of Laos, and the Vietnamese community in Laos. On this occasion, the two sides will also discuss certain cooperation documents between the two National Assemblies.

3. The Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from 18 to 20 May 2022

At the invitation of President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore Tan Chuan-Jin will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from 18 to 20 May 2022.

The visit aims to further strengthen the Viet Nam - Singapore strategic partnership and is an important political and diplomatic event between the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the Parliament of Singapore, as we look toward the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations (01/08/1973 - 01/08/2023), and the 10^th anniversary of the two countries upgrading relations to a Strategic Partnership in 2023.

As part of the visit, Speaker of the Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin is expected to hold talks with President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, meet with Vietnamese high-level leaders. Both sides will also sign an agreement between the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the Parliament of Singapore.

II. Q&A

1. Zing: Can you provide more information on the incident in which a fishing vessel from Quang Ngai was robbed by a foreign vessel in the waters surrounding the Spratly islands. Has Viet Nam identified which country the vessel belongs to?

Currently, Vietnamese competent authorities are in the process of verifying this information.

2. Zing: Can you provide an update on the progress of other countries’ recognition of Vietnamese vaccine passports?

To date, Viet Nam has reached agreements on mutual recognition of vaccine passports with 20 countries, including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Belarus, Cambodia, the Philippines, Palestine, Maldives, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey and Singapore, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Korea, Iran, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic.

On May 11, the European Commission (EC) also issued a decision on recognizing Viet Nam's electronic vaccine passports. Accordingly, Viet Nam's vaccine passport will be recognized by all 27 European Union countries, and the QR code of this passport can also be authenticated in the territories of 39 countries and territories participating in the EU vaccine passport system.

Thus, so far, Viet Nam's vaccine passport can be used in 81 countries and territories. This is the result of efforts in coordination and exchange between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and negotiations with partners.

3. Viet Nam News Agency: Can you provide more information on Viet Nam’s humanitarian assistance of 500,000 USD to Ukraine?

Viet Nam shares the international community's deep concern about and attention to the humanitarian situation caused by recent developments in Ukraine. Viet Nam believes it is necessary to immediately put a stop to the use of force, ensure security and safety of civilians, protect essential civilian infrastructure, respect and enforce international humanitarian law, and facilitate humanitarian contact and access and evacuation for expatriates living in Ukraine, including Vietnamese community. Viet Nam supports the humanitarian activities of the United Nations and other countries and international partners to support people affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

In this spirit, responding to the call of the United Nations, Viet Nam has decided to donate 500,000 USD, including: 100,000 USD to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), 100,000 USD to the World Health Organization (WHO), 100,000 USD to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and 200,000 USD through the Viet Nam Red Cross to the Ukrainian Red Cross, contributing to the implementation of humanitarian relief activities to support the people affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

4. Thanh Nien: During Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to the US, can we expect any breakthroughs in the two countries’ relations?

As you may know, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is leading the Vietnamese high-level delegation attending the ASEAN – US Special Summit, as well as working with the United Nations during the visit to the US. During the visit, the Prime Minister and the Vietnamese high-level delegation will meet with US partners to further strengthen the Viet Nam – US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Further information and results of the visit will be regularly updated.