Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam (centre) talks to Vietnamese residents in New Caledonia. (Photo: VNA)Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA) Vu Hong Nam paid a visit to Australia from October 29–November 1 to learn firsthand about the Vietnamese community in the country.
The deputy foreign minister visited Cabramatta, a suburb southwestern Sydney that is home to about 40,000 Vietnamese people, the largest community in Australia.
He took a tour to a Vietnamese market and met with several Vietnamese families. The COVA official expressed his hope that local Vietnamese society would stay united and support each other while preserving national identity and culture and strengthening the two countries’ relations.
Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam visited New Caledonia, a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean more than 1,200 kilometres east of Australia. He spoke with representatives from about 4,000 Vietnamese residents in the territory and local authorities.
Nam briefed the people on Vietnam’s socio-economic status and objectives in the coming time, as well as newly adopted policies regarding overseas Vietnamese affairs.
He affirmed that Vietnam’s government would help the overseas Vietnamese community protect and uphold Vietnam’s culture, including the mother tongue.
Meanwhile, local authorities in New Caledonia spoke highly of the successes and contributions of their Vietnamese residents to the territory’s socio-economic development.
Furthermore, New Caledonia wished to expand economic and trade ties with Vietnam, they said.-VNA
