WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Vietnam's National Assembly on Tuesday approved a bold bureaucratic reform plan that will slash up to a fifth of government bodies, as the country tries to cut costs and improve administrative efficiency.

The number of government ministries will be reduced to 14 from the current 18, to be up and running from March 1, the assembly said in a statement.

More than 97% of the lawmakers present approved the plan.

The assembly earlier on Tuesday passed an amendment to a law on organising government, paving the way for approval of the planned cull of 15% to 20% of the state apparatus, which will also include four agencies and five state television channels, among other cuts.

The move would "not only save money for the state budget but more importantly, boost the efficiency of the system", General Secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, To Lam, told parliament last week.

Investors, diplomats and officials have broadly welcomed the plan but expect some administrative delays in the short term in Vietnam, a regional industrial hub that relies heavily on foreign investment.

The government has said the overhaul would not impact project approvals.

The Planning and Investment Ministry, which approves foreign investment projects, will join the Finance Ministry, while the Transport Ministry and the Construction Ministry will be merged.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry will also be merged.

Lawmakers on Tuesday ratified the appointment of two new deputy premiers, including the incumbent investment minister. That will increase the number of deputy prime ministers from five to seven.

The plan coincides with similar post-pandemic government cost-cutting measures being implemented or pledged across the world, including by Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei and US President Donald Trump.

Vietnam's state media reported last month that the restructuring would affect 100,000 state officials. It did not elaborate.

"Poor-performing employees must be removed from the system," it quoted Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, as saying.

"State agencies must not be safe shelters for incompetent officials."

ကိုးကား-Reuters

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France has been marked by an exceptional display of camaraderie and respect from President Emmanuel Macron, show casing the strength of their bilateral relationship. 

From shared moments at the AI Action Summit to travelling together in a joint motorcade and even on the same plane to Marseille, the two leaders have highlighted their close personal and diplomatic ties. 

On the first day, President Macron spent time with PM Modi at the dinner hosted by him. The camaraderie continued the next day at the AI Action Summit, where India and France co-hosted the summit. 

Demonstrating their close ties, they hosted the India-France CEOs Forum together, reflecting their shared vision for economic collaboration. 

In an extraordinary gesture of friendship, both the leaders also travelled together in a joint motorcade and in the same plane to Marseille. President Macron hosted PM Modi for a working dinner in Marseille immediately on landing. — ANI

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

CHINA is accelerating the market-oriented re form of its renewable power pricing system in a bid to build a new power system and promote the sustainable development of renewable energy generation. 

The National Development and Reform Com mission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) recently issued a joint notice on deepening the pricing re form for electricity generated from renewable energy.

 The reform focuses on three key aspects: allowing market forces to determine renewable power pricing, establishing a pricing and settlement mechanism that supports the long-term sustainability, and adopting differentiated policies for existing and new pro jects. 

“This new pricing policy will significantly accelerate the construction of a modern power system and ensure the sustainable development of renewable energy,” said Zhang Dayong, deputy secretary-general of the China Association for the Promotion of Indus trial Development. 

Industry experts believe this reform is essential as China enters a new stage of renewable energy development.

China highly values the new energy sector, such as wind and solar power, rolling out an array of favourable pol icies spanning pricing, finance and industry. The supportive measures, including a fixed pricing mechanism, have led to exponential growth in re newable energy capacity. 

At the end of 2024, the country’s total installed renewable power capacity reached 1.41 billion kilowatts, accounting for over 40 per cent of its total electricity capacity and surpassing coal-fired power installations. 

Despite this rapid expansion, the existing fixed-pricing mechanism for renewable power has struggled to reflect real market supply and demand dynamics. 

Conditions are now ripe to shift to market-based pricing, analysts said, citing falling power generation costs and an evolving market and predicting that the re form will enhance industry efficiency and ensure sustainable high-quality growth. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

DONALD Trump vowed a new “golden age” as he took the oath for a historic second US presidential term Monday, painting a picture of an America in decline that only his hardline policies can restore to glory.
In an often divisive address in the US Capitol, the 47th president promised a blitz of orders including the declaration of a national emergency on the Mexican border and a policy of only recognizing two genders.
Trump also struck a nationalistic tone as he capped the most extraordinary comeback in US political history, pledging to impose trade tariffs, rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and take “back” the Panama Canal, which has been controled by the Central American country since 1999.
“The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said in the Capitol, where the inauguration was held indoors for the first time in decades, due to freezing weather. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

IMPEACHED South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over his failed martial law bid, ending a weeks-long standoff with authorities and becoming the first sitting president to be detained in the nation’s history.
Yoon, who faces charges of insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, said he would comply with investigators to avoid “bloodshed”.
A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party (PPP) to election victory in 2022, Yoon could face the death penalty or life in jail if found guilty of insurrection. He had sought to evade arrest for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, protected by members of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) who had remained loyal to him.
His guards had installed barbed wire and barricades at the residence, turning it into what the opposition called a “fortress”. Yoon, who had vowed to “fight to the end”, managed to thwart a first arrest attempt on 3 January following a tense hours-long impasse between the guards and anti-graft investigators working with police. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

NORTH Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday, according to Seoul’s military, in what experts said could be a message to US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
The launch came as Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited South Korea for a series of meetings with top officials, with the Asian neighbours seeking to boost bilateral ties before Trump returns to office next week.
“The South Korean military detected several short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea,” the military in Seoul said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
South Korean and US intelligence agencies had monitored Pyongyang’s launch preparations, the military said, with Seoul maintaining “full readiness” and sharing information with Washington and Tokyo. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

LEBANON’S parliament elected Army Chief Joseph Aoun as the country’s new president on Thursday, bringing an end to a prolonged political deadlock and presidential vacancy, CNN reported.
Aoun was elected after two rounds of voting, following extensive efforts by the United States and Saudi Arabia to garner support for him. Both countries have close ties with Aoun, who is aligned with Washington and Riyadh.
After his election, Aoun stepped down from his military role and arrived at the parliament in civilian attire to be sworn in. In his acceptance speech, Aoun declared the start of a “new era” for Lebanon, vowing to address the country’s ongoing economic and political crises. He also made a rare pledge to “monopolize weapons” under the state’s authority, signalling his intention to disarm Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, which has significant military influence in Lebanon, as reported by CNN.
Notably, Hezbollah, the most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East, had significant influence in several countries until it suffered heavy losses in a recent war with Israel. This conflict, along with the weakening of its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has reignited domestic debate on disarming the group. — ANI

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

CHINESE telecoms firm Huawei has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote the conservation of a marine protected area on Kenya’s south coast.
The three-year project, which was unveiled Monday, seeks to protect the ecological health of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve, a biodiversity hotspot located on the edge of Kenya’s south coastal county of Kwale.
Other implementing partners in the Tech4 Nature project include Kenya Wildlife Service and Wildlife Research and Training Institute, a state agency, according to a statement by Huawei issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Tuesday.
The project is aligned with Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative and the IUCN Green List as its primary goal is to improve the monitoring and management efficiency of the marine protected area,which is home to pristine coral reefs as well as iconic but endangered species, like green turtles and bottlenose dolphins.
Huawei Kenya Media Director Khadija Mohammed Ahmed underscored the need to leverage technology and innovations to boost the health and resilience of marine ecosystems, threatened by climate change and human activities. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

A US federal judge in NewJersey on Friday dismissed a last-minute attempt to block New York City’s congestion pricing plan, allowing it to take effect Sunday.
The decision means that starting from Sunday, drivers entering Manhattan below the 60th Street during peak hours will face a congestion fee of nine US dollars.
While the Metropolitan Transport Authority welcomed the decision, opponents in New Jersey vowed to appeal the decision before Sunday. According to local media, one lawyer for New Jersey suggested seeking emergency relief from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
As the first of its kind in the United States, the Manhattan congestion pricing plan was first introduced and approved in 2019 under the administration of then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

SLOVAK Prime Minister Robert Fico said that he had discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin the situation in Ukraine and the possibilities for resolving the conflict, as well as relations between Russia and Slovakia.
“In a long conversation, Vladimir Putin and I exchanged views on the military situation in Ukraine and the possibilities for a early peaceful end to the war and on relations between Slovakia and Russia, which I intend to standardize,” Fico said on Facebook.
According to Fico, this will also be helped by events related to the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory over fascism, “where the decisive role was played by Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and other peoples of the former USSR”.
The prime minister also noted that President Putin had confirmed Russia’s readiness to continue supplying gas to the West. — SPUTNIK

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar