Hanoi (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- The 15th National Assembly opened its Q&A session on June 19, with Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang taking the centre first to address the country’s economic challenges.

The session is being broadcast live on television and radio. Read full story

- Along with the Politburo’s “four key resolutions” which are already underway, Party General Secretary To Lam has emphasised the need to continue designing more resolutions following the guiding principles of “all benefits must come to the people and "all power must belong to the people” as taught by President Ho Chi Minh.

Outlining the “Resolution Quartet” issued by the Politburo to usher Vietnam into a new era, the Party chief ordered the decisive, well-structured implementation, with practical outcomes as the measure of competence and success. Read full story

- Russia’s cooperation with Southeast Asia is steadily expanding, with trade increasing across the region, including with Vietnam, President Vladimir Putin said on early June 19 (local time).

Speaking at a late-night, early-morning meeting with heads of news agencies from the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), Putin emphasised Southeast Asia’s strategic importance. Read full story

- Vietnam has reiterated its strong commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering women at the annual session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), held from June 17 to 19 at the UN headquarters in New York.

Nguyen Hoang Nguyen, Minister Counselor and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, emphasised that the session offers an important opportunity for member states and UN Women to reaffirm their shared resolve and assess progress. Read full story

- New Zealand takes great pride in the growth of its partnership with Vietnam, a relationship that has become increasingly meaningful to both countries and their peoples, and the wider Indo-Pacific region, said New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Caroline Beresford.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and New Zealand (June 19, 1975 – 2025), Ambassador Beresford described the journey as remarkable. For 50 years, the two countries have worked together to uphold peace and prosperity for their peoples and the region. The friendship, cooperation, and mutual understanding Vietnam and New Zealand nurtured have grown from a seed into a deeply rooted, strong, and thriving tree, she stressed. Read full story

- Vietnam’s press industry is at a historic turning point with sweeping restructuring that includes ending operations, merging, streamlining, digital transformation, and a shift toward financial self-reliance, for sustainable development and enhancement of competitiveness in an evolving information landscape.

In this era of global integration and digitalisation, the press must adopt modern multimedia models to not only meet increasing information and communication demands but also align with the broader socio-economic development of the country. Read full story

- Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang outlined measures to achieve the goal of developing two million enterprises by 2030 as laid out in Resolution 68 on private sector development while fielding questions from deputies at the ongoing 15th National Assembly’s 9th session on June 19.

He acknowledged the target represents an important milestone for socio-economic development as well as a demonstration of the country’s aspiration for robust economic growth. However, he admitted formidable challenges like mounting external challenges and enterprises’ weak competitive capacity that require high determination, concerted efforts, and drastic actions. Read full story

- Vietnam has, for the first time, applied artificial intelligence (AI) and and remote sensing technologies to monitor seawater quality through a joint research initiative with Polish scientists, marking a significant step forward in enhancing environmental management and water resource governance in key coastal regions.

Rapid socio-economic development in recent years has led to growing environmental challenges in areas like Ha Long Bay and Cua Luc of Quang Ninh province, particularly the degradation of seawater quality, which threatens unique marine ecosystems. Traditional monitoring methods such as on-site sampling and laboratory analysis have proven to be costly, time-consuming, and limited in coverage. Read full story

- Vietnam’s 16 universities have been named in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2025, an increase of three compared to 2024.

These prestigious rankings evaluate universities worldwide based on their progress toward achieving the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were introduced in 2016 to promote global peace, fairness, and prosperity. This year saw a total of 2,526 higher education institutions participate in the rankings./. Read full story