Day: January 15, 2023

Vietnamese students in Japan and Vietnamese in Thailand and Burnei took part in get-togethers to celebrate the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) on January 14.

In Tokyo, the Vietnamese Youth and Student Association in Japan (VYSA) held an event to bring Tet atmostphere to Vietnamese who are living and working in East Asia country.

Addressing the gathering, VYSA Chairman Nguyen Dinh Nam highlighted outcomes made by the association in recent years.

According to him, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the VYSA and its chapters across Japan still organise many meaningful activities to strengthen the cohesion in the community and support Vietnamese youth and students in Japan such as VYSA Job Fair, VYSA Charity Bookstore, or sports tournaments like VYSA Kanto Badminton.

He said the VYSA presented 100 packages of gifts to disadvantaged Vietnamese in Japan to help them have a warm and happy Tet.

Nguyen Duc Minh, Chargé d’Affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, highly appreciated the VYSA’s activities in the past time, while expressing his hope that VYSA will continue to have more practical and meaningful actions to contribute to building a growing Vietnamese community in Japan and further develop Vietnam-Japan relations.

Participants at the event had a chance to experienced folk games and enjoy the traditional dishes of the Vietnamese people as well as muscial performances by artists of the two countries.

Meanwhile, many overseas Vietnamese in Thailand gathered at the headquarters of Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok on January 14 to welcome the Tet.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh extended his best wishes to the Vietnamese community living and working in Thailand on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

Thanh praised the efforts of the Vietnamese community in overcoming all difficulties to stabilise their lives and deeply integrate into host society.

He urged them to uphold the tradition of solidarity, promote the cultural identity of Vietnam, actively contributing to the relationship between the two countries.

Also on January 14, the Vietnamese Embassy in Brunei held a Lunar New Year get-together with the participation of more than 100 Vietnamese living and working in Brunei and international guests./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Intellectual Society (VIS) in the UK and Ireland on January 14 held an annual meeting to review its performance last year and a traditional Lunar New Year celebration for Vietnamese expatriates.

Speaking at the event, VIS chairman Nguyen Xuan Huan said that with more than 100 members mostly professors, associate professors, lecturers, and post-graduates at over 60 universities in the UK and Ireland, the VIS first aims to connect and support its members and then, develop the Vietnamese community in the UK.

He said in 2023, VIS will continue to expand its activities, not only in the academic field to connect and cooperate with other organisations such as the Embassy of Vietnam in the UK, the Association Vietnam-UK friendship, and Vietnamese associations in the UK to promote Vietnam-UK relations.

This year, for the first time, VIS and the Vietnamese students’ association in Oxford city jointly held a Tet celebration at Wadham College which attracted the members of the two associations, their families, and Vietnamese overseas living and working in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore and the Vietnamese students’ association in the country on January 14 held a Tet celebration for students who will spend the coming Lunar New Year festival away from home.

Nearly 100 Vietnamese students and guests attended the event which included typical preparation for a traditional Tet celebration like making “chung” cake, playing folk games, and delivering Tet wishes to family and friends.

The activities not only help Vietnamese students feel Tet atmosphere when staying away from home but also promote Vietnamese culture to foreigners./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The ongoing official visit to Vietnam by Speaker of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s National Assembly (NA) Kim Jin-pyo is expected to create momentum for the two countries to fulfill their common goals, a scholar has said.

The visit, from January 12-18, is made the invitation of Chairman of the Vietnamese NA Vuong Dinh Hue.

This is the first of such visit to Vietnam by Kim since he took office in July 2022 and also the first by a senior leader of the RoK since the two countries upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Dr. Choe Won-gi, head of the Centre for ASEAN–India Studies at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), said a highlight of the visit is Kim’s attendance at the inauguration ceremony of the Vietnam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST), scheduled for January 17.

This represents the largest non-refundable aid project between the two countries, Choe said, suggesting them step up cooperation to make it easier for the institute to contribute to scientific-technological development in Vietnam.

Regarding cooperation prospects, he said the bilateral relations have made outstanding strides since the establishment of the diplomatic ties in 1992, especially in economy, and it is time for the two countries to take the relationship to a new height.

Vietnam and the RoK share interests in not only economy but also in diplomacy and security, and boast close cultural ties, he said, stressing that the strategic cooperation should be strengthened through people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

He also suggested the two countries form an economic community to connect the two economies, and become strategic partners in politics, diplomacy, and national defence and security.

Choe emphasised that among the ASEAN member countries, Vietnam is the most reliable and important partner of the RoK.

The core of the RoK’s Indo-Pacific strategy is ASEAN and the core of the ten-member grouping is Vietnam, he said, noting that Vietnam plays a very important role in connecting and accelerating negotiations on the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on January 15 visited and presented gifts to 200 disadvantaged people in Buon Ho town in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak ahead of the Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

Talking with local people, the President hailed the town for its achievements in poverty reduction and ensuring social welfare as the town’s poverty rate last year dropped to about 3%.

He asked provincial and town authorities to pay more attention to improving infrastructure which helps facilitate trade and economic activities.

He also asked agencies to step up the preservation of Central Highlands culture which is a competitive advantage of the region.

On the same day, the President visited and offered Tet presents to teachers and students of the Krong Buk district boarding school and poor households in the district.

At the school, he gave 100 presents, 50 bikes to disadvantaged students and families plus 300 million VND to the school to improve its canteen./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Lao Cai boasts potential to become a growth pole and a tourism centre of the northern midland and mountainous region, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said at a working session with local officials as part of his pre-Tet visit to the province on January 15.

The top legislator urged Lao Cai to better tap its potential, advantages and important position in terms of economy, social affairs, and national defence and security.

The province should map out projects on border trade and tourism, he suggested, asking the locality to review its policies on industrial development, continue with forest protection, and preserve and build a border line of peace, cooperation and development.

More attention is needed in Party and political system building, as well as the fight against corruption and other negative phenomena, the leader continued.

Economic development should go in tandem with socio-cultural development, and the sustainable exploitation of natural resources, he reminded, asking Lao Cai to make better performance in education-training, science-technology and health care.

Lao Cai is home to 25 ethnic groups with a total population of more than 761,000, of whom more than 66% are ethnic minorities. Its GRDP grew about 9.02% last year. Its budget contribution tripled from 3 trillion VND (127.98 million USD) in 2012 to more than 10 trillion VND in 2022./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency