Vietnamese community in Canada, Czech Republic celebrates Tet hinh anh 1An art performance at the celebration in Prague (Photo: VNA)

Ottawa (VNA) – A get-together was held in Canada on February 2 by the Canada-Vietnam Society (CVS) to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) of Vietnam.

The event drew a number of local officials, including Canadian Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion Mary Ng; Toronto’s Deputy Mayor Dezil Minnan-Wong and parliamentarian Julie Dzerowicz, along with foreign friends and Vietnamese community in Canada.

In a greeting message sent to the CVS, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognized great contributions of the Vietnamese Canadian community and thanked the CVS for bringing Vietnamese culture closer to Canadian people.

At the event, Minister Mary Ng affirmed that through the preservation of the tradition of the Vietnamese Canadian community as well as the Vietnamese cultural identity, the Vietnamese community has become a key community in the country.

Trade, investment and education are outstanding cooperation areas between Vietnam and Canada over the years, she noted, adding that Vietnam has been the biggest trade partner of Canada among ASEAN countries.

Director of the CVS in Toronto Nguyen Dai Trang highlighted the fruitful results in trade and education partnership between the two sides, stressing that the number of Vietnamese students wishing to study in Canada has risen.

Participants at the event were feasted with Vietnamese traditional food, music and dances.

Meanwhile, on February 1-2, a Tet greeting programme and a Tet festival and carnival was held in Prague, the Czech Republic, gathering Czech officials and locals, and the Vietnamese community in the country.

This was one of the biggest events that the Vietnamese community has organised in a year, giving a chance for Vietnamese and Czech people to meet, exchange, and enjoy traditional dishes that Vietnamese people prepared for Tet, along with traditional art performances.

Not only in Prague, the Vietnamese community in other localities such as Plzen, Most, Usti and Ostrava also organized various activities to celebrate Tet and the Year of the Pig.-VNA
VNA