The Telegraph Travel Awards 2025, organised by the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, has announced its list of the world’s best cities. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the two Vietnamese destinations honoured in this prestigious ranking. 

At a recent meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pointed out that the Politburo’s Notice No. 81 on building schools for border communes is a major policy decision with profound political and social significance. The Prime Minister requested that it be urgently implemented to complete the construction of 100 schools in 100 land border communes before August 30, 2026.

After 58 years of formation and development (August 8, 1967 – 2025), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has established itself as a successful model of regional cooperation and integration.

In July and the first seven months of 2025, Vietnam’s economy showed steady industrial growth, strong increases in exports, imports, and foreign direct investment, a surge in public investment, high budget revenues, and inflation kept firmly under control.

At the invitation of Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço and his spouse, State President Luong Cuong and his spouse, accompanied by a high-level Vietnamese delegation, will pay a state visit to the Republic of Angola from August 6 to 9. The visit is expected to strengthen bilateral cooperation and open a new chapter in relations between the two countries.

State President Luong Cuong and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El‑Sisi issued a Joint statement on the upgrade of Vietnam - Egypt ties to a Comprehensive Partnership, following their tête-à-tête and official talks in Cairo on August 5.

All four students of Vietnam’s national team competing at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2025 in Sucre, Bolivia, have won medals, the Ministry of Education and Training announced on August 2. The team brought home one gold, two silvers, and one bronze, reinforcing Vietnam’s strong record in the increasingly competitive academic competition.

Since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) officially took effect on August 1, 2020, the bilateral trade turnover has recorded stable and robust growth over the past five years.

At the invitation of President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and his spouse, President Luong Cuong, his spouse, and a high-level Vietnamese delegation are paying a State visit to Egypt from August 3 to 6, 2025.

Vietnam has made a strong impression on the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, ranking 6th out of 40 countries and territories in the AI Index released by the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN) in July 2025.

Vietnam has been recognised as one of the top 10 countries making the most progress on Goal 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls. This reflects the country’s strong commitment to gender equality and enhancing women’s participation in building a peaceful, cooperative, and sustainable world.

Compared to Q1/2025, Vietnam’s passport climbed 7 ranks, from 91st to 84th globally, the most impressive increase for Vietnam since the Henley's Passport Index began tracking this data over a decade ago

To date, the institutional framework, mechanisms, and policies have been fundamentally completed, providing a legal foundation for the development of science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and the implementation of Project 06. These areas have seen remarkable progress: 5G services have been rolled out nationwide; mobile internet speed has surged into the global top 20; and the National Data Centre project is being aggressively implemented.

According to UNESCO’s records, Hoang Van is one of Vietnam’s leading musicians, with over 700 works written between 1951 and 2010. Rich in materials, forms, and genres, his compositions reflect a deep engagement with Vietnam’s history and society, especially the lives of women and vulnerable groups. The document collection of musician Hoang Van serves as a valuable source of information for scholars studying cultural and musical development in Vietnam.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, his spouse, and a high-level Vietnamese delegation are in Geneva, Switzerland to attend the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and carry out bilateral activities from July 27 to 30, 2025. This marks Chairman Man’s first official visit to Switzerland, aiming to reinforce political trust and deepen the Vietnam–Switzerland Comprehensive Partnership while promoting cooperation across various sectors.

The year 2025 marks 30 years since Vietnam became a member of ASEAN. Over the past three decades, the decision to join the bloc has proven to be a historically and strategically significant move by the Party and the State, bringing major benefits in terms of security, development, and international standing. With a proactive, positive, and responsible approach, Vietnam has made many practical contributions to ASEAN’s success.

On the morning of July 20, 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the Government’s Steering Committee for Science, Technology, Innovation, Digital Transformation, and Project 06, chaired the committee’s third meeting to review progress made in the first half of the year, and set out tasks for the remainder of 2025. In the first six months, ministries, sectors, and localities completed 76 out of 106 tasks under the Action Programme implementing Resolution 57.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man is paying an official visit to Morocco from July 24 to 27 at the invitation of Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives Rachid Talbi Alami. The visit reflects the foreign policy line set by the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which promotes independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, and proactive, comprehensive, and deep integration into the world.

Vietnam’s team secured 2 gold medals, 3 silver, and 1 bronze with a total score of 188, placing 9th among 113 countries and territories at the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), held from July 10 to 20 in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

To date, the Ministry of Public Security has launched 43 utilities on the VNeID platform, effectively serving both citizens and businesses with a people-centred approach.