The following is a list of selected news summaries last weekend by the Vietnam News Agency.

The PM said that next year was forecast to have opportunities and advantages but also difficulties and challenges, with the latter outweighing the former.

A workshop to share experience between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Cambodian parliament took place in the central city of Da Nang on December 25.

The second extraordinary session of the 15th National Assembly (NA) will open on January 5, 2023, with an agenda full of many important issues, according to a conclusion of the NA Standing Committee.

2023 will be a year of forming and exploiting data to create new values, stated Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting on December 25 to review one year of implementing a project on developing the application of population database, e-identification, and e-authentication for the national digital transformation in the 2022-2025 period with a vision to 2030 (Project 06).

The Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education hosted a national conference to review the external information service and communications about seas and islands, border demarcation and marker planting, and border management in 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City on December 24.

Building a professional, humane, and modern journalism environment should be a target of the revolutionary press in the digital era.

The trip, made at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo from December 21 to 23, held great significance as it marks a new milestone in the Việt Nam - Indonesia strategic partnership.

GDP growth faster than expected, border reopening, and fuel shortages in many localities are among the top 10 events that shaped Vietnam in 2022, as selected by Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung had a working session on December 22 with Secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) Mauro Alboresi, who spoke highly of socio-economic development achievements Vietnam has gained after more than 35 years of renewal under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Participating in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping activities represents a new development in the international integration capacity of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Vietnam’s continuous deployment and increase of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations have recorded encouraging results, leaving good impression on UN leaders, commanders of missions, and leaders of host countries.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s State visit to Indonesia has obtained comprehensive, substantive, and concrete outcomes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said on December 23.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Lao Minister of Industry and Commerce Malaythong Kommasith and senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines in Hanoi on December 23.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation arrived back in Hanoi on December 23 afternoon, wrapping up a State visit to Indonesia at the invitation of President Joko Widodo.

Young National Assembly (NA) deputies of Vietnam and Laos held talks in Vientiane on December 23 as part of the two countries’ Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022.

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his hope that the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) will encourage Indonesian businesses to pour more investments into Vietnam, in his meeting with KADIN Chairman Arsjad Rasjid in Jakarta on December 23.

Vietnam attaches special importance to its relations with ASEAN in its foreign policy, and exerts efforts to actively contribute to building a strong and united ASEAN and to uphold its central role in the regional security structure, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed on December 23.

President Phúc stressed that the bilateral ties have been developing strongly, especially after the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2013.