Dr Phan Anh Sơn, President of the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations delivers his speech at the “World Public Assembly Days in Việt Nam” event in Hà Nội on Tuesday afternoon. — VNS Photo Nguyễn Hằng

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam hopes that the ‘World Peoples Assembly Days’ will not only serve as an occasion for friendly exchanges, but gradually become a regular, substantive and effective mechanism for dialogue, connectivity and cooperation, where ideas can be shared, suitable partners connected, and good initiatives transformed into concrete cooperation programmes and projects.

Dr Phan Anh Sơn, President of the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), made the statement on Tuesday afternoon in Hà Nội at the opening session of the “World Public Assembly Days in Việt Nam” event, themed “Connecting humanity for shared values, towards a better future”.

This is the first time the ‘World Peoples Assembly Days’ has been held in Việt Nam.

The three-day event, running from Tuesday to Thursday, is co-hosted by VUFO and the World Peoples Assembly.

The World Peoples Assembly is an international organisation and public diplomacy platform to promote social integration, international friendship, and sustainable development based in Moscow, Russia.

In his opening remarks, Sơn said the participation of experts, academics, intellectuals, scientists and representatives of people’s organisations demonstrated the vitality, depth and broad social foundation of the traditional friendship between Việt Nam and Russia.

Against the backdrop of rapid global changes, intensifying strategic competition, traditional and non-traditional security challenges, climate change and breakthroughs in science and technology, countries are facing new demands, he said.

“People-to-people diplomacy is therefore playing an increasingly important role in building trust, promoting mutual understanding, connecting social resources and creating new spaces for cooperation,” he said.

Building on the comprehensive strategic partnership between Việt Nam and Russia, Sơn proposed three practical areas of long-term cooperation of developing a Việt Nam-Russia knowledge and innovation network; investing more strongly in young people through young intellectuals’ forums, exchanges for students and young scientists, and joint innovation competitions; and promoting people-to-people cooperation projects in green science, environmental protection, public health and sustainable development.

Sơn called on the World Peoples Assembly and its member organisations across more than 60 countries to mobilise resources and expand cooperation with Việt Nam, jointly identify priority areas, develop projects with tangible outcomes and create lasting value.

Activities by people’s organisations should, he said, make a decisive shift from exchanges to cooperation, from ideas to projects, and from potential to concrete results.

Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary-General of the World Peoples Assembly delivers his speech at the event in Hà Nội on Tuesday afternoon. — VNS Photo Nguyễn Hằng

Warm welcome

Speaking highly of the organisation of the event and the warm welcome extended by the Vietnamese side, Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary-General of the World Peoples Assembly and a member of the UNESCO Commission of Russia, and Vladimir Murashkin, Head of the Representative Office of the Russian Federal Cooperation Agency in Việt Nam, First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Việt Nam and Director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Hà Nội, underlined the important role of intercultural dialogue and people-to-people diplomacy in connecting the world amid global upheavals.

They stressed that core values such as peace, respect for human dignity, preservation of cultural diversity, strengthening the family and educating younger generations provide a foundation for sustainable development.

Belyaninov also expressed his delight that the idea of organising the World Peoples Assembly Days in Việt Nam had become a reality.

He said that people-to-people diplomacy can sometimes carry a stronger voice than official political dialogue, as it provides a space for people from different countries to discuss shared values, including family traditions, respect between generations and genders, and the role of education in shaping younger generations.

He described Việt Nam as a vivid example of solidarity and respect for cultural identity.

The country’s historical experience and cultural values could also provide valuable lessons for African countries and many others, he said.

In a video message to the opening session, Igor Khalevinskiy, Chairman of the Council of the Association of Russian Diplomats, gave an overview of the World Peoples Assembly Days in Việt Nam, highlighting its practical significance and expressing his desire to further develop cooperation with Việt Nam.

Annual dialogue mechanism

Presenting a paper at the opening session, Đồng Huy Cương, Vice President of VUFO, said that after 40 years of Đổi mới (Renewal), Việt Nam had made significant achievements in socio-economic development and international integration.

As the country enters a new stage of development, people-to-people diplomacy should contribute to connecting international resources in support of national development goals, he said.

With a network of more than 600 international partners, VUFO is well positioned to work with the World Peoples Assembly to connect social organisations, research institutes, universities, businesses, academics and intellectuals.

Cooperation between the two organisations would not only help strengthen the social foundation of Việt Nam-Russia relations, but also expand people-to-people connections between Việt Nam and other countries, Cương said.

He proposed establishing an annual dialogue mechanism; promoting research and academic exchanges in artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, clean energy and biomedicine; supporting Russian studies in Việt Nam and Vietnamese studies in Russia; strengthening exchanges among young people, students, scientists and young entrepreneurs, as well as between twin cities; and stepping up multilingual digital communications to enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

As part of the opening session, the World People’s Council signed cooperation agreements with five Vietnamese partners: the University of Economics under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Hanoi University of Business and Technology; Hanoi University of Finance and Banking; the Việt Nam-Russia Cooperation Centre; and Hanoi College of Technology and Trade.

The agreements are expected to establish new links and create a foundation for further cooperation between the World Peoples Assembly and Vietnamese educational institutions and organisations. — VNS