Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his spouse arrived in Hà Nội yesterday, beginning an official three-day visit to Việt Nam at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

ASEAN foreign ministers have endoresed a proposal by Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh for the ASEAN-China Summit in November to issue an official statement on the start of negotiations over a Code of Conduct for the East Sea.

Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ on Thursday proposed to leaders of Slovakia that they help promote ties between Việt Nam and the European Union. Huệ paid a two-day visit to the European nation, meeting with Prime Minister Robert Fico and other top officials.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán Viktor and his wife will pay an official visit to Việt Nam from September 24-26.

President Trần Đại Quang has asked the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (IRIC) to continue providing support for member organisations in Southeast Asia, including Việt Nam.

Governments have been asked to encourage the private sector, particularly small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), to get involved  in the fight against natural disasters, given their vulnerability to extreme weather.

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee yesterday reviewed the development of the marine economy along with national defence and security in 2011-16.

The traditional ties between Việt Nam and India are developing in a range of areas, from cooperation in defence-security to trade and investment to people-to-people exchanges, Indian Ambassador to Việt Nam Parvathaneni Harish said at a seminar on the prospects of bilateral ties in Hà Nội yesterday.

APEC disaster officials were working on a recommendation to the leaders of member economies to apply more advanced technology in disaster prevention given the extreme weather the region has been facing.