Representatives of Đà Nẵng's Hải Châu district and Đông Á University join a signing ceremony with Uiwang City, Gyeonggi, Korea for an education and friendship exchange. Photo courtesy of Phương Chi

ĐÀ NẴNG — School students from Đà Nẵng City will join a cultural exchange programme in Uiwang City, Gyeonggi, South Korea in October following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation and friendship signed between the city’s Hải Châu District and Uiwang City in Korea last week.

Chairman of Hải Châu District Lê Tự Gia Thanh said the first group of secondary school students from the city will take part in a cultural festival and friendship exchange to be held in Korea’s Uiwang City this October.

Thanh said the district had signed a MoU on co-operation in culture and friendship from 2021, but the cultural exchange programme had been suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the cultural programme will form part of a series of co-operation events between the two cities and people of the two countries in the coming time.

Also on the Korean trip, Đà Nẵng-based Đông Á University and Kaywon University of Art & Design agreed on educational co-operation consisting of an exchange programme among students and lecturers of the two universities in 2024.

The two universities will boost fashion design, a garment industry internship programme, digital marketing, multi-media communications and information technology.

Kaywon University of Art & Design is the sixth university from Korea to sign a co-operation agreement with Đông Á University in education and high-quality human resources training.

Đà Nẵng also plans to build tour links between Jeju Island, Incheon, Seoul and other localities, including UNESCO-recognised world heritages Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng, Huế Monuments Complex, Hội An ancient town and Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary in central Việt Nam.

In the past year, Đà Nẵng and the South Korean city of Gyeongsan also signed an MoU for the cosmetic industry and tourism development.

The city will host the Việt Nam-Korea culture exchange festival at Biển Đông (East Sea) Park this September.

HanaTour company of Korea and the city’s tourism promotion centre hosted an Instagram photo contest, ‘Đà Nẵng in My Heart’, for Koreans living in Việt Nam and abroad last year.

South Korean tourists account for 55.4 per cent of international tourists in Đà Nẵng with 1.8 million in 2019.

The South Korea Consulate General in Đà Nẵng also organised the K-Food Festival event for Vietnamese teams in Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Đà Nẵng.

Tourism promotion between Việt Nam's central region and cities of Korea was also organised by the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) in Việt Nam in recent years.

Korea airlines including Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Air Busan, Air Seoul and Tway Air have been resuming their air service from Busan, Seoul, Deagu and Cheong Ju to Đà Nẵng from last year. — VNS