Festival to tighten China friendship
HA NOI — Viet Nam-China People Friendship Festival 2010 will help further enrich the two countries' comprehensive strategic co-operative relations, said Deputy National Assembly Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong.
She was addressing the opening ceremony of the festival in Ha Noi last Saturday.
The event was co-organised by the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the Viet Nam-China Friendship Association, the Chinese People's External Friendship Association and the China-Viet Nam Friendship Association.
Phong said 2010 marked the 60th anniversary of Viet Nam-China diplomatic ties and that therefore numerous activities had been organised in the two countries.
These activities had contributed to further enhancing the traditional friendship enjoyed by "comrades and brothers", which were fostered by the late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong and generations of revolutionaries, Phong said.
VUFO President Vu Xuan Hong said the festival, under the theme "upholding the tradition of enhancing friendship and promoting co-operation for mutual development", aimed to disseminate information on the traditional ties enjoyed by the two countries.
Reviewing Viet Nam-China relations over the past 60 years, the VUFO official said friendship was vital to the peoples of the two countries.
Hong noted that promoting friendship and comprehensive co-operation was indispensable to each country's development.
He said that in recent years the two countries' bilateral relations had grown stronger and expanded to a number of fields. He also said exchange activities had been stepped up among people from all walks of life.
Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's External Friendship Association, emphasised that by upholding the motto "good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners", co-operation and exchanges between the two countries at all levels and in all areas had deepened. He said this provided a firm foundation for the long-term development of China-Viet Nam ties.
Chen proposed the two sides regularly carry out friendly activities, mobilise people from all walks of life to participate in and support mutual friendship activities, while working together to create an atmosphere of good neighbourliness.
The two sides needed to deal seriously and calmly with existing disputes and have confidence in the two Parties and Governments to settle those problems, Chen said.
"We are ready to work together with the Vietnamese people towards the great common cause and to enhance mutual trust and co-operation to deepen the China-Viet Nam ties in a healthy and stable manner," Chen said.
Two seminars were held yesterday during which managers and experts shared experiences in improving social and educational policies.
The implementation of social policies in the two countries were reviewed at the Vietnamese-Chinese Social Policies seminar.
While Viet Nam always attaches importance to the matching of economic development with improvements in social policies, the Chinese government gives priority to looking after the elderly. Experiences gained from its social policies were shared with Vietnamese representatives.
In the Vietnamese-Chinese Educational Policies seminar, representatives exchanged views on renewing educational and training programmes to help improve conditions for teachers and policies in disadvantaged areas.
Chinese educational experts gave their Vietnamese counterparts advise on managing and mobilising resources for education.
A ceremony was later held at the National Convention Hall to promote books on Viet Nam-China relations. — VNS