Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Doan Khanh, delivered an oration at the ceremony, affirming the significance of the Hung Temples festival and praised the great contribution of Hung Kings in building the Van Lang nation - the first state of the Vietnamese people. He also encouraged the upholding of patriotism and unity among all ethnic Vietnamese under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

After offering incense at attending the incense offering ceremonies in the Ha (Lower), Trung (Middle) and Thuong (Upper) temples, President Triet and the other participants laid a wreath at the bas-relief of late President Ho Chi Minh on the Nghia Linh mountain and talked to soldiers of the vanguard division at Gieng Temple.

Earlier, President Triet had met with 50 outstanding overseas Vietnamese coming to Viet Tri City to attend the incense offering ceremony at the Hung Temples festival 2009.

The overseas Vietnamese thanked the Party and State for creating favourable conditions for them to return to the homeland and contribute to the country’s development. They pledged to unite and help each other integrate well into the resident countries and to do their best to educate their children about patriotism. In addition, they expressed hope that the Party and State will devise polices to develop the nation’s culture, especially the teaching of the Vietnamese language to Vietnamese nationals living abroad.

Addressing the meeting, President Triet emphasised that the Party and the State has always treasured overseas Vietnamese’ sentiments for the homeland and asked them to promote the teaching of the Vietnamese language to their children and educating them about the history of 18 Hung Kings so they can preserve the cultural tradition of the Vietnamese people.

Mr Triet expressed the wish that overseas Vietnamese will obey the laws well and work hard in their resident countries, and urged them to disseminate information on the nation’s culture to those who have not learned much about the homeland.

Director of the Hung Temples Complex Nguyen Tien Khoi said that more than 3 million visitors were expected to attend the festival.

Incense offering to Hung Kings also took place in many other areas across the country.