Việt Nam will receive an aid package worth US$9.5 million to cope with COVID-19, including $5 million for economic assistance funds, according to the US Department of State.

To mark the 45th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification, a number of activities were held nationwide. Here is a round up of the various events that took place on Thursday.

The Party’s clear-sighted leadership was the decisive factor in the Great 1975 Spring Victory that liberated Việt Nam’s south and reunified the country, according to General Lương Cường, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the General Political Department of the Việt Nam People’s Army.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc held a working session with the High Command of Air Force and Air Defence in Hà Nội on Wednesday, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30), the 130th birth anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh (May 19), and 66th anniversary of the Điện Biên Phủ victory (May 7).

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh held phone talks with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on Wednesday to discuss co-operation in the fight against COVID-19 as well as coordination at the United Nations Security Council to which both countries are non-permanent members in the 2020-21 tenure. 

HCM City authorities plan to establish a steering committee on the creation of a “city within a city” that will include districts 2, 9 and Thủ Đức, according to Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the city People’s Committee. 

Seventy-eight international NGOs active in Việt Nam – including CARE International, the German Red Cross and the World Wildlife Fund – have given full endorsement to the country’s effective efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Việt Nam plans to join the Convention 105 (C105) on the abolition of forced labour developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee concluded at its 44th session on Tuesday. 

Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, has called for strengthened international cooperation among the youth and the promotion of the role of regional organisations in this field.