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

- Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met leaders of some major US groups operating in the fields of energy, satellite, and technology in New York on September 25 (local time) as part of his US trip. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh cleared up many queries regarding mechanisms and policies at a dialogue with experts and leaders of major groups, both at home and abroad, which took place within the framework of the fifth Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum on September 25.

Asked about mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs that would speed up economic transformation, especial in the industrial sector, the government leader cited the resolution adopted at the 13th National Party Congress and Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW dated 2022 on continuing to promote industrialisation and modernisation till 2030, with a vision to 2045. Read full story

- Vietnam has been making serious efforts to realise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid its current socio-economic situation, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long told the first meeting of the National Council for Sustainable Development in Hanoi on September 25.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the United Nations, countries, and international organisations highly value Vietnam’s efforts to achieve the SDGs. In the Sustainable Development Report 2024, Vietnam scored 73.32 in the SDG Index to rank 54th among the 166 listed countries, representing an improvement in both the score and ranking compared to 2023. Read full story

- Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting (ADSOM) in Vientiane, Laos, on September 25. Read full story

- A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Public Security Major General Nguyen Ngoc Lam attended the 4th international conference on preventing and countering violent extremism, which opened in Moscow on September 25.

The event drew more than 40 delegations from countries and organisations, including President of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi, representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Read full story

- A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education on September 25 paid a courtesy visit to Khamphanh Pheuyavong, Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and head of its Commission for Propaganda and Training.

Pheuyavong said the Vietnamese delegation’s visit from September 23-26 contributes to the development of the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, and peoples, as well as cooperation between the two commissions. Read full story

- Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Duong Ngoc Hai on September 25 expressed his hope for stronger tourism cooperation between the southern metropolis and Portugal’s Porto city whose Historic Centre was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Receiving Porto’s Deputy Mayor Ricardo Valente, who is in HCM City for a friendship dialogue and an economic forum, Hai noted that tourism remains an economic spearhead sector of the city and expressed his hope for travel firms of the two sides to enhance exchanges and share experience in product development and promotion. Read full story

- A workshop was co-organised in Vientiane on September 25 by the Lao Academy of Social and Economic Sciences, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), and the Royal Academy of Cambodia, suggesting measures for enhancing the three countries’ cooperation in the new global context.

VASS Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr Ta Minh Tuan said that the three countries’ relations have been growing unceasingly over the past years, but they are facing many difficulties and challenges, including the competition among powerful countries, conflicts in various places around the world, and non-traditional security challenges such as trans-national crimes, environmental pollution, energy security, food security, water resource security, infectious disease outbreaks, and climate change. Read full story

- The Denmark In Your Eyes painting contest 2024 was launched by the Vietnam – Denmark Friendship Association in collaboration with the Danish Embassy of Vietnam in Hanoi on September 25 as part of the activities to mark the 53rd anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Themed “green initiatives”, the contest encourages students to analyse the surrounding environmental and climate challenges as well as share their initiatives to protect the environment and natural resources. Read full story./.