HÀ NỘI — The extraordinary life and career of President Hồ Chí Minh, and his international reputation, is featured in an exhibition that opened yesterday in Hà Nội.

The exhibition is held beside the stilt house of Uncle Hồ behind the Presidential Palace. It will be open until December 10 as part of activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Resolution honouring President Hồ as “a Vietnamese hero of national liberation and a great man of culture”.

The exhibition introduces 250 photos and documents divided into three parts titled “Hồ Chí Minh – Hero of National Liberation”, “Hồ Chí Minh -- The Great Man of Culture”, and “Hồ Chí Minh – Forever in the Heart of Mankind”.

Many precious documents collected and preserved by the national relic site dedicated to the late President are on display.

The exhibition provides information about the President’s life, career, ideology and moral example to domestic and foreign visitors, encouraging people to study and follow the “thoughts, virtues and style of Hồ Chí Minh”.

“To the Vietnamese people, President Hồ was the wellspring of faith in the eventual victory of the struggle for national independence and the quest for prosperity for all,” said Phạm Bình Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister at the opening ceremony.

“To international friends, he is a symbol of the desire for peace and the fight against oppression and injustice. His heart and mind were ever in tune with the people in the world.”

An international seminar was also held yesterday with the participation of many experts and diplomatic organisations.

Michael Croft, a representative of UNESCO in Việt Nam, said Hồ Chí Minh is rightly renowned as a liberator and wartime leader with few equals in modern history, but it is clear that he devoted just as much energy to his strategies for peace.

“For me, his vision and its influence ensured that Việt Nam’s development has not been tied to victory in war, but to victory in peace,” he said. “Hồ Chí Minh’s life is an inspiration in how it was lived, there is no doubt...”

The Permanent Delegation of Việt Nam to UNESCO organised a ceremony to honour President Hồ on November 13 in France.

Former General Director of UNESCO Irina Bokova remarked that Hồ Chí Minh was a humanist and intellectual – a poet, a journalist and a teacher, keenly aware of the power of education for national self-determination as well as for individual empowerment.

“Hồ Chí Minh’s extensive travel from East to West gave him a unique global perspective of the importance of dialogue between cultures as the foundation for mutual understanding and as the driver of more inclusive and sustainable development,” she said. — VNS