HCM CITY – Việt Nam and France signed a cultural co-operation agreement for 2018-20 at the Việt Nam-France Joint Committee meeting held in HCM City last Friday.

It was signed by the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) and the Institute of France in Việt Nam (IFV).

The two sides agreed to further expand cultural co-operation in all aspects, including new forms, to encourage more and more Vietnamese youths to study French culture and language.

The signing was done as part of the celebrations of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

The event was attended by the French ambassador to Việt Nam, Bertrand Lortholary, and the head of the Europe department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Đinh Toàn Thắng, who said the fruitful development of political ties and cultural exchanges between Việt Nam and France have contributed to strengthening understanding and solidarity between the two peoples. 

IDECAF, established in 1982 under the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a special partner of France in cultural co-operation, focusing on teaching French, screening French films and organising art programmes.

In recent years IDECAF has played an important role in promoting people-to-people exchanges, becoming one of the major centres for Vietnam-France cultural exchanges in the south.

Annually IDECAF takes in around 7,000 people to teach French, 70 per cent of them students. It co-operates with IFV to organise 80 cultural events a year, including screenings of French films and seminars, art performances and exhibitions.

Lortholary said co-operation between IDECAF would be a foundation for IDECAF and IFV to continue operating, creating a strong appeal for French culture among people.

France would help instal more audiovisual devices at the IDECAF theatre, organise a festival next October and assist IDECAF with hiring French teachers and trainees, he said.

IDECAF director Nguyễn Ngọc Lan said the institute’s efforts to teach French in 2007-17 yielded good results.

Its library has become a multi-media library and documentation centre on France with more than 30,000 books, she said.

 It has collaborated with many partners to organise film festivals, concerts and exhibitions, she said. — VNS