The Vietnamese embassy in Laos held the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Golf Tournament in Vientiane on January 23.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Ta Minh Chau, and more than 40 amateur golfers played for more than 5 hours.

Laos Vice State President Bunnhang Volachit said that the tournament was to welcome the success of the 11th National Party Congress and the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet) of Vietnam.

He praised the tournament, which he said, aims to promote mutual understanding and the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos.

On the same day the Vietnamese embassy in the UK held a meeting to celebrate Tet.

At the event, Vietnam’s Ambassador Tran Quang Hoan informed the overseas Vietnamese (OVs) of the successful grand celebrations for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, the success of the 11th National Party Congress and the fulfilment of nation’s tasks in its role as ASEAN Chair.

The Vietnamese Peoples Association in the UK thanked other OVs for donating hundreds of millions of VND to assist central flood victims.

The President of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society Len Aldis and the President of the UK non-governmental organisation Medical and Scientific Aid for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Peter Lacy also pledged continued assistance for Agent Orange victims and poor children in Vietnam.

Earlier, on January 22, the Vietnamese consulate general in Hong Kong and Macau, China, held a get-together for the staff of Vietnamese representative agencies and hundreds of OVs to welcome Tet.

Vietnam’s Consul General Pham Cao Phong said that the economic, cultural and educational cooperation between Vietnam and Hong Kong and Macau has developed strongly, with Vietnamese export revenues to Hong Kong rising by almost 60 percent from 2009.

On this occasion, the consulate general also presented certificates of merit from the State Committee for overseas Vietnamese to outstanding OVs for their active contributions to the community’s development./.