President of Ireland Mary McAleese spoke highly of the fine development of the relationship between Ireland and Vietnam over the past time, especially after visits by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2008 and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai in 2009.

While receiving newly-appointed Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK and Ireland Vu Quang Minh, who presented the credentials to her on June 16, President Mary McAleese said she is pleased with the success of cooperation programmes within the framework of Ireland’s official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam and wishes to further develop the bilateral ties to a level matching the two sides’ great potential.

Ambassador Minh expressed his wish that the Irish Government and people will continue to yield greater achievements in their national development.

On the occasion, the Vietnamese ambassador had meetings with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and the Chamber of Commerce of Ireland.

He also visited a fair themed “New Realities in Asia for Irish Businesses” co-organised by the Ireland Business Forum in Asia and the Pacific and the Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

The fair was one of the large trade promotion activities which drew the participation of over 200 Irish businesses operating in new technologies, financial services, pharmaceuticals, education, food and tourism.

The Vietnam Trade Promotion Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK and Ireland jointly hosted a showroom of Vietnamese products at the fair.

In Dublin, Ambassador Minh worked with the Executive Board of the Vietnamese-Irish Association to discuss the association’s operation orientations in the coming time, including strengthening links with Irish adoptive parents of Vietnamese children and Vietnamese teaching in the community.

While meeting with overseas Vietnamese living and studying in Ireland, the ambassador highly valued their efforts in building a happy and wealthy life in the new land, while maintaining the national traditions and cultural identities as well as sentiments towards homeland.

Earlier, Ambassador Minh, who doubles as the Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, presented the credentials to UK Queen Elizabeth II on June 8./.