Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of fostering cooperation with the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) and its members at a function to mark the International Francophone Day in Hanoi on March 20.

The Vietnamese official praised the French-speaking community’s activities to raise its role and prestige in the international arena and its contributions to solving global issues relating to peace, security and sustainable development over the past years.

OIF representative to Asia-Pacific Anissa Barrak spoke of Vietnam’s contributions to the community’s activities and its role in the Francophone movements in Asia .

She mentioned the cooperation between Vietnam and the organisation in promoting the use of the French language.

The same day, a seminar on Francophone job market in Vietnam with challenges and prospect was held in Hanoi to seek ways to help French learners land jobs that use French.

According to Anissa Barrak, around 60,000 students in Vietnam are learning French in 45 universities and colleges and around 6,000 others are studying in French speaking countries, including France, Belgium, Canada , Switzerland and Morocco.

French has been taught in the country’s national education programme for years. The Vietnamese-French bilingual programme and French-second language programme has been deployed in Vietnam since 1994.-VNA