Authorities of Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia extend Tết greetings to Vinh Long officials and locals on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

VĨNH LONG — A delegation from Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia led by Vice Governor Ros Sophany paid a visit to the Mekong Delta province of Vĩnh Long on Friday to extend Lunar New Year (Tết) greetings to the local Party organisation, administration, and people.

Welcoming the delegation, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Vĩnh Long Nguyễn Trúc Són said the province is home to around 353,000 Khmer people, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of its population. Over the years, the Party, the State and local authorities have consistently attached importance to improving the material and spiritual well-being of ethnic minority communities.

In 2025, Vĩnh Long successfully organised major traditional Khmer festivals, including Chol Chnam Thmay, Sene Dolta, and Ok Om Bok, in a solemn, united, and culturally rich atmosphere, demonstrating the close attention paid by all-level authorities to the Khmer community.

The province currently operates a wide range of Khmer-language and cultural institutions, including a Khmer-language newspaper and internal bulletin, radio and television programmes, a Khmer art troupe, a Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum, a Pali–Khmer intermediate school, and the College of Southern Khmer Language–Culture–Arts and Humanities. These institutions have played an important role in preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the Khmer ethnic group.

Vĩnh Long has also maintained regular exchanges, experience-sharing activities and people-to-people contacts with Banteay Meanchey, contributing to mutual understanding and socio-economic development in both localities, he noted.

The Vice Chairman thanked the Cambodian delegation for the visit and New Year greetings, and expressed his hope that the relationship of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability” between Việt Nam and Cambodia, as well as between the two provinces, will continue to develop fruitfully.

For her part, Ros Sophany affirmed that Cambodia and Việt Nam are neighbouring countries bound by a close-knit, time-tested friendship and solidarity, having stood shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for national independence and freedom. She stressed that January 7, 1979, is regarded by the Cambodian people as a day of national rebirth, marking liberation from the Pol Pot genocidal regime.

The Cambodian people will always remember the significant contributions and sacrifices of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and patriotic forces who devoted their lives for the sake of the Cambodian people and the nation’s peace and stability, she emphasised.

On the occasion of Viêt Nam’s traditional Lunar New Year, the official conveyed her best wishes to the Party organisation, authorities, and people of Vĩnh Long, and voiced her hope that the friendship and cooperation between the peoples of Việt Nam and Cambodia in general, and between Vĩnh Long and Banteay Meanchey in particular, will continue to grow stronger and more enduring.

To further strengthen bilateral ties, Vĩnh Long and Banteay Meanchey signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on development cooperation in 2011, followed by the MoUs for the 2012–16, 2017–22 and 2025–29 periods, helping consolidate solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries and their localities. — VNA/VNS