The central province of Thanh Hoa on Oct. 5 held a ceremony to receive coral stones and a tropical almond tree as gifts from the Naval High Command and people living on Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

As part of activities to mark the 50 th anniversary of the launch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea (Oct. 23), the gifts contribute to educating Vietnamese people on protecting the nation’s seas and islands.

The gifts also symbolise Vietnam ’s sovereignty over its seas and island as well as the will of the troops and people living on the archipelago to protect the national sovereignty.

Thousands of people from Thanh Hoa province are serving in Vietnamese naval forces, including hundreds stationed at Truong Sa archipelago and marine defence platform DK1.

On the occasion, the province presented 500 million VND to soldiers and people on the island district./.