Overseas Vietnamese communities celebrate Tet

The Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi, India on February 15 hosted a get-together with around 200 invited guests to welcome the traditional Lunar New Year.

Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh conveyed best New Year wishes to the overseas Vietnamese community in India. He reiterated the Party and State’s consistent policy which considers OVs as an indispensable part of the nation. 

He hoped that OVs in India will unite and support each other, keep traditional cultural identities and look toward their homeland as well as serving as a bridge to promote the ties of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and India.

Thanh believed in the huge cooperative potential between the two countries, stating that 2015 will witness further achievements in bilateral relations.

A similar event took place on the same day in London involving 400 OVs businesspeople and students and British friends.

Ambassador to the UK and Northern Ireland Nguyen Van Thao briefed the participants on Vietnam’s socio-economic situation and Vietnam-UK bilateral relations in recent years, and major anniversaries in Vietnam this year.

He hoped that multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the UK will obtain new achievements in 2015 which marks the 5^th anniversary of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership.

Meanwhile, a Tet programme for OVs in Brussels was held by the General Association of  Overseas Vietnamese in Belgium, attracting a large number of OVs and Belgian people.

A Tet market displaying specialities like Chung (glutinous rice) cakes, sugar-preserved fruits, grapefruit, peach branches and parallel sentences,  created a cosy at-home atmosphere for the Vietnamese expatriates.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Pretoria also held a Tet gathering on February 15 for OVs in South Africa with more than 200 invited guests.

Ambassador Le Huy Hoang reviewed Vietnam’s achievements in 2014 and fine development of cooperative relations between Vietnam and South Africa.

Diverse diplomatic and economic activities held in 2014 helped raise two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and South Africa to US$1.2 billion, Hoang said.

He also briefed the guests on major programmes in 2015 and called on OVs to actively contribute to the national development and promoting friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and South Africa.

Earlier on February 14, an art exchange to celebrate Tet and the Party’s founding anniversary was held at the Hanoi-Moscow Complex in Moscow, attracting around 300 Vietnamese students and post-graduates.

Meanwhile, similar events were held for OVs in Japan, France and Romania to celebrate the Lunar New Year.