Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm and Sainte-Adresse Mayor Hubert Dejean de la Batie lay flowers at the memorial plaque honouring President Hồ Chí Minh in Sainte-Adresse city on October 6. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

PARIS — Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm on Sunday attended the inauguration of a memorial plaque honouring President Hồ Chí Minh, a national liberation hero and an outstanding cultural figure of Việt Nam, in France's Sainte-Adresse City.

It is placed in the city's Masquelier Place, in front of the house that President Hồ Chí Minh used to live in, which is now used as a place to organise community activities of the city.

The commemorative plaque is engraved with French and Vietnamese words saying that from 1911-1912, President Hồ Chí Minh lived and worked in the city of Sainte-Adresse in the Masquelier area on his long journey for the future of Việt Nam.

Addressing the event, Lâm highly valued the city's consideration of this plaque as a heritage site, and thanked French people, loyal friends of Việt Nam, who have always strived to preserve historical sites that mark President Hồ Chí Minh's journey to find a way to salvage the country.

He highlighted that President Hồ Chí Minh, a shining example of Vietnamese people's spirit and characteristics, a UNESCO-recognised Hero of National Liberation and a Great Man of Culture of Việt Nam and the world, left a precious heritage belonging to the common memory that all have the responsibility to honour and preserve.

The newly-inaugurated plaque will become a place of remembrance for Vietnamese people as well as for all peoples who strive for peace and independence. This is also one of the pieces of evidence that link the historical relationship between Việt Nam and France, said the Vietnamese top leader, highlighting the growing relations between the two countries through the ups and downs in the history and the contributions by President Hồ Chí Minh to the development of this ties.

He said he hopes Sainte-Adresse will conduct more exchange and cooperation activities with Vietnamese cities, contributing to strengthening bilateral multifaceted cooperation at all levels, and enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

For his part, Sainte-Adresse Mayor Hubert Dejean de la Batie said that the memorial plaque aims to make a historical mark for not only Việt Nam but also France. It contributes to expressing the sentiments, friendship, and solidarity of the people of Sainte-Adresse city in particular and French people in general towards President Hồ Chí Minh and the Vietnamese people, he said.

Earlier, General Secretary and President Lâm visited the Sainte-Adresse city hall and wrote on the memorial book there, expressing his belief that on the basis of the common history and the noble human values left by President Hồ Chí Minh, the traditional ties and close cooperation between Việt Nam and France in general and with the city of Sainte-Adresse in particular will be increasingly consolidated and developed. — VNS