A gathering was held in Hanoi on April 16 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) in Bandung, Indonesia (April 18-24, 1955).

Co-hosted by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam Committee on Solidarity and Cooperation with Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the event brought together representatives from embassies and diplomatic representative agencies in Vietnam, friendship associations between Vietnam and foreign countries, and a crowd of students from Hanoi universities.

In his speech, President of the Committee Nguyen Van Chuong highlighted the significance of the AAC’s formation 60 years ago, saying that the conference focused on how to enhance solidarity and cooperation among Asian and African nations.

The first event was designed to wake up oppressed nations in Asia and Africa and mark their rising involvement in the global political arena, he stressed.

According to Chuong, Vietnam received support from international friends, especially Asian and African countries, for its past revolutionary struggle and current national construction and development.

The first Asia-Africa Conference was a meeting of 29 Asian and African states from April 18-24, 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia.

It was organised by Indonesia, Burma (now Myanmar), Pakistan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India, intending to promote Asian-African economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism; it led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.-VNA