HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Việt Nam-Uzbekistan Friendship Association (VUFA) hosted a ceremony in Hà Nội on Saturday to mark the association’s 30th anniversary, gathering those who studied, worked in or developed an affinity for Uzbekistan.

The event also celebrated Việt Nam’s 81st National Day (September 2) and Uzbekistan’s 35th Independence Day (September 1).

Speaking at the ceremony, VUFA chairman Lại Ngọc Đoàn stressed that the traditional friendship between the two peoples was built on President Hồ Chí Minh’s historic visit to Tashkent in 1959.

During Việt Nam's fight for national liberation and subsequent nation-building, Uzbekistan trained around 3,000 Vietnamese citizens, including vocational trainees, university students and postgraduate researchers.

In their video messages sent to the event, chairman of the Uzbekistan-Việt Nam Friendship Association Alisher Rustamovich Mukhamedov and former VUFA chairman Lương Phan Cừ affirmed that the two friendship associations would continue upholding the tradition of solidarity, friendship and cooperation.

They expressed hope that younger generations in both countries would carry forward that tradition, foster exchanges, cooperate in entrepreneurship, study and development, and build “bridges of friendship” to support sustainable Việt Nam-Uzbekistan relations.

Delegates visited an exhibition of documentary photos depicting VUFA’s 30 years of activities and enjoyed music performances highlighting both nations’ distinctive cultural identities.

VUFA was established on September 4, 1996, with a mission to foster people-to-people diplomacy, traditional friendship and solidarity between Việt Nam and Uzbekistan.

Over the past 30 years, it has actively staged people-to-people exchanges, serving as a bridge to tighten bilateral ties, spread cultural and historical values, increase mutual understanding and nurture friendship between the two peoples. — VNA/VNS