Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a list of selected news summaries reported last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Party General Secretary To Lam hosted a reception in Hanoi on December 12 for General Secretary of the United Left Movement (MIU) Party and Minister of Regional Integration Policies of the Dominican Republic Miguel Mejia, who is on a working visit to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Party chief congratulated the MIU Party on its victory in the general election in May. He acknowledged and highly appreciated positive contributions of the party and its General Secretary Mejia to the Vietnam-Dominican Republic relations, particularly in the restoration of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in Santo Domingo, as well as in connecting and promoting economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries. Read full story

- State President Luong Cuong has commended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)’s significant and historic achievements that have contributed to the national revolutionary, protection, construction and development cause.

At a working session with the ministry on December 12, the State leader highlighted that amidst complicated developments in the region and the world, the MoFA has promoted its pioneering role in establishing and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for development, safeguarding the nation early and from afar, and firmly protecting its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has laid stress on the need to complete the resolution of obstacles for renewable energy projects by February 2025 to prevent wastefulness, contributing to ensuring electricity for development.

Chairing a hybrid conference on announcing and implementing the Government’s resolution on removing bottlenecks for the projects on December 12, the PM underscored that to achieve the country's targeted 8% economic growth in 2025, position itself for potential double-digit growth in 2026-2030, and enter a new era – the era of the nation’s rise, Vietnam must capitalise on all resources, including renewable energy infrastructure. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited and had a working session with the National Defence Academy on December 12 on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of the Vietnam’s People Army (VPA) and 35th anniversary of the All People’s Defence Festival.

He said the academy should develop itself into a regional training and research centre by 2030 and a globally-recognised institution by 2045, aligning with the heroic stature of the Vietnamese military and people. Read full story

- National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man received General Director of Samsung Vietnam Choi Joo Ho in Hanoi on December 12.

He affirmed that the Party, State, National Assembly, and Government of Vietnam always support and create a favourable legal framework for investment, production, and business activities of enterprises from the Republic of Korea (RoK), including the Samsung Group. He also highly evaluated the group’s efforts, determination, and achievements in business activities in recent years. Read full story

- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held phone talks with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn on December 12 afternoon.

Son underlined the importance of boosting close coordination between the two foreign ministries in stepping up the bilateral cooperation. The two officials expressed their pleasure with the positive outcomes of the bilateral cooperation in recent times, and agreed to work closely together to further intensify the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. Read full story

- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting of the Vietnam-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation in Hanoi on December 12.

Leaders of ministries and agencies reported on the implementation of cooperation between the two countries up to 2030, and the progress made since the 25th meeting held in September. They discussed obstacles in projects across industry, agriculture, trade, healthcare, tourism, labour and education. Additionally, they explored the possibility of expanding cooperation in the oil and gas sector and other traditional energy industries, as well as construction of the Russian school and Moscow house in Hanoi. Read full story

- A protocol related to railway transport cooperation between Vietnam and China was signed at the 44th Vietnam-China border railway conference held in Hanoi on December 12.

Director General of the Vietnam Railway Authority (VNRA) Tran Thien Canh, who is also head of the Vietnamese delegation to conference, said the annual conference is held on a rotation basis between the two countries to negotiate, resolve issues, and reach agreement on annual amendments and supplements to the Vietnam-China railway protocol. Read full story

- Standard Chartered has released its latest macroeconomic updates for Vietnam, forecasting the US dollar will strengthen in 2025 but weaken early in the year.

The bank expects strong GDP growth of 6.7% in 2025, with growth easing from 7.5% year-on-year in the first half of the year to 6.1% in the second half. Read full story

- The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap on December 12 launched a project to preserve and develop red-headed crane (scientifically known as Grus antigone sharpie) population in the Tram Chim National Park.

Dong Thap signed a memorandum of understanding among parties and a deal with Thai partners serving the work, while implementing several ecosystem restoration programmes within the Tram Chim National Park. It has also launched an ecological rice farming model aimed at organic agriculture, alongside constructing facilities for crane care and providing technical training for staff involved in crane conservation. Read full story./.