Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Thiep speaking at the event (Photo: VNA)
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Thiep announced that 2018 was a successful year of Vietnam with its economic growth of 7.08%, the highest rate over the past 11 years. This is also a special year in Vietnam-France relations, marking 5 years of strategic cooperation and 45 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Trade exchange between France and Vietnam has exceeded USD4 billion, and the total investment of France into Vietnam reached USD590 million, an increase of six times compared to the previous year.
The high-level visit by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to France in March 2018 and the official visit by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to Vietnam in November 2018 further strengthened the strategic partnership between the two countries. Bilateral cooperation has been expanded to many new areas such as agricultural food, biology, energy, digital and urbanization.
The ambassador emphasized that 2019 will also be a year of many important events, including the 100th anniversary of overseas Vietnamese movement and the Vietnamese Association in France. 100 years ago, Nguyen Ai Quoc, a patriot and his friends from the Association for Annamite Patriots, presented statements of Annamites at the International Conference on Peace in Versailles, marking the beginning of the patriotic movement of Vietnamese people in France.
Mr. Nguyen Thiep affirmed that each success of Vietnam today has important imprints from overseas Vietnamese all over the world. He sent his sincere thanks to the entire Vietnamese community in France for positive contributions to the development of the country, becoming an important bridge between Vietnam and France.
New bilateral cooperation opportunities will open through exchanges of high-level delegations between the two countries, including a visit to France by National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan scheduled in April, and a visit to Vietnam by French President Emmanuel Macron scheduled at the end of 2019. The 11th Conference on Decentralized Cooperation, scheduled to be held on April 1st-2nd in Toulouse, will create new possibilities to deepen trust and strengthen relationships between localities of Vietnam and France.
Speaking at the event, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo affirmed that Vietnam is an important and effective cooperation partner in many fields with France. The co-organization of the community Tet by the administration of Paris and the Vietnamese Embassy at the City Hall showed that the Vietnamese culture contributes to enriching the cultural diversity of Paris. She wished the Vietnamese community a successful new year, contributing to the common development of Paris and France.
At the event, the participants together enjoyed songs about Vietnam and traditional Tet dishes of Vietnamese people./.