Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung presents Friendship Order to Katherine Muller-Marin (Photo:VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – A ceremony to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was organised at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi on November 24.
Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh hailed the organisation’s great contributions to the community in the fields of education and culture.
He expressed his hope that the organisation will continue promoting a culture of peace, tolerance, and respect for cultures.
Head of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam Katherine Muller-Marin affirmed the Vietnamese people are her close friends, and wished that the Vietnamese people continue preserving and promoting their values, including culture and heritage, hospitality, and warm sentiments.
On the occasion, the Foreign Ministry presented the Labour Order, third class, to the Thang Long Heritage Preservation Centre and the Friendship Order to Katherine Muller-Marin.
Since joining UNESCO in 1976, Vietnam has been actively enhancing cooperative ties with the organisation. UNESCO opened its representative office in Hanoi in September 1999.
The country is home to 22 world heritage items recognised by UNESCO, including two natural heritage sites (Ha Long Bay and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park), five cultural heritages (the Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty, the Complex of Hue Monuments, Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary), and one mixed heritage site (Trang An Landscape Complex).
The capital city of Hanoi is the only one in the Asia-Pacific region that was granted the UNESCO’s title “City for peace”./.
