~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Viet Nam affirms to work closely with Francophone Community

HANOI - Viet Nam will work closely with the Francophone Community (FC) and continue contributing to FC development for a common goal of peace, solidarity, cooperation and development, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Bang stated at a seminar entitled "Viet Nam and Francophone Community" held in Ha Noi on Friday.

The "Viet Nam and Francophone Community" seminar was organised by the Foreign Ministry to celebrate the International Francophone Day (Mar. 20) and the 10-year establishment of the offices of the Francophone Intergovernmental Agency (AIF) and the Francophone Universities Agency (AUF). Bang described the growing cooperation between Viet Nam and FC in various areas as a remarkable contribution to Viet Nam's renovation as well as its regional and international integration process. He highly valued endeavours and activities by AIF and AUF since 1994 when they opened their offices in Ha Noi, saying these helped realise FC commitments to Viet Nam.

Participants, who are ambassadors and charges d'affaires of French-speaking countries in Viet Nam and representatives of Francophone organisations, assessed the effectiveness of multi-dimensional cooperation between Viet Nam and FC in general and AIF and AUF in particular. At the function, which was one of activities to prepare for the 10th Francophone Summit scheduled to take place in Burkina Faso this year, they proposed measures to further bolster Viet Nam-FC relations in the future.

Speaking at the seminar, Director of the FC Asia-Pacific region Stephan Plumat appreciated the wide use of French in mass media, naming "Le Courrier du Viet Nam", the Vietnam Television and the Radio the Voice of Viet Nam. Over the past time, AIF has extended its assistance to Viet Nam in small and medium sized projects on French teaching, poverty reduction and environmental protection.

Meanwhile, AUF has been actively involved in programmes to organise bilingual language classes at junior high schools and a French speaking university in a bid to promote the learning of the French language in Viet Nam. Also in education, FC member countries, including Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, have helped train thousands of Vietnamese students.

So far, 2,700 Vietnamese officials have worked in African countries, not only bringing home economic benefits but also contributing to enhancing solidarity between Viet Nam and FC member countries. In culture, FC has financed the making of "Thoi Xa vang" (A distant Past) directed by Ho Quang Minh and "Me Thao Thoi Vang Bong" (The glorious time in Me Thao hamlet) by Viet Linh.

Vietnam News Agency - March 19, 2004.