At the celebration in Paris to welcome traditional Tet (Photo: VNA) Paris (VNA) – Some 1,000 overseas Vietnamese and international friends attended a ceremony to welcome traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Paris, France on January 28.
Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thiep informed the guests of Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements in 2018, with the 7.08 percent GDP growth - the highest level in the past 11 years.
The year witnessed an important milestone in bilateral ties with France when both nations celebrated 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations and five years of strategic partnership, he said, adding that two-way trade surpassed 4 billion USD, and French investments in Vietnam hit 590 million USD, six times higher than the previous year.
High-level visits made by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in March, and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in November helped bolster the strategic partnership. Cooperation has been expanded to new industries like agricultural food, biology, energy, digitalisation and urbanisation.
This year, cooperative opportunities between the two nations will be enhanced thanks to several high-level exchanges, including Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan’s visit to France in April and a trip by French President Emmanuel Macron to Vietnam at the end of the year, he highlighted.
Thiep took the occasion to thank the Vietnamese expatriates for their contributions to development in their homeland and the thriving relations between the two countries.
Present at the event, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo affirmed Vietnam is an important partner of France.
The celebration of Vietnamese traditional Tet festival in Paris shows the diverse culture in the city, she said, wishing the Vietnamese community a happy new year and hoping that they will make further contributions to the development of France as well as Paris.
Art performances, traditional dishes and dragon dancing were included at the ceremony.-VNA
VNA
