Can Tho gathering marks traditional New Year of Khmer, Cambodian people

Cambodian Consul General in HCM City Sok Dareth and his spouse (left) present congratulatory flowers to the gathering in Can Tho on April 1. (Photo: VNA)

Can Tho (VNA) – A gathering was held on April 1 for Khmer ethnic members of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Association in Can Tho and Cambodian students of universities in this Mekong Delta city to mark Chol Chnam Thmay, the traditional New Year festival of Khmer people.

Nguyen Van Can, Chairman of the friendship association, said 2022 is a special year for the two countries as they will celebrate the 55th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties (June 24, 1967 - 2022).

A wide range of activities will be organised throughout this year to mark the anniversary, including gatherings, culinary - cultural - sports exchanges between Cambodian and Can Tho students, a seminar on the countries’ friendship, and contests exploring bilateral relations.

Those activities will help not only maintain and develop the neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia but also educate people, especially the young, on the importance of nurturing the countries’ ties in the new context, according to Can.

The association will also boost people-to-people exchange and social activities in Cambodia, he went on, adding that it will work to help develop Can Tho’s twin relations with Kompong Chhnang and Battampang provinces of Cambodia and increase its membership, thereby contributing to the Vietnam - Cambodia friendship, solidarity, and all-round cooperation.

Addressing the event, Cambodian Consul General in HCM City Sok Dareth highly valued the Can Tho association’s active contributions to people-to-people diplomacy, noting that during COVID-19 outbreaks, many humanitarian organisations have donated medical supplies to frontlines forces while assisting low-income earners and disadvantaged students in Cambodia.

He affirmed that the Cambodian Consulate General in HCM City will exert more efforts to bring the relationship with Can Tho to a new height in order to help intensify the two countries’ relations.

The diplomat also expressed his hope that the connections between Can Tho and Phnom Penh capital, Battambang, and other localities and agencies of Cambodia will be increasingly reinforced in the time ahead./.

VNA