Hanoi (VNA) - Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), presented the insignia "For Peace and Friendship among Nations" to French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery, in recognition of his contributions to strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador Nga said 2023 holds significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of strategic partnership.
In his capacity as French Ambassador to Vietnam, Warnery has made positive contributions to enhancing the fine relations between the two countries across the board, including politics, economy, culture, education, sci-tech, and people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges.
Bilateral cooperation in culture and heritage preservation has been a prominent highlight during Warnery's tenure, she said, adding that with numerous cultural exchanges and effective training programmes, the French institutes in Hanoi and several major Vietnamese cities and provinces have always been reputable destinations favoured by many Vietnamese people who wish to learn about the country, language, culture, and people of France.
During his tenure in Vietnam, Warnery not only actively joined external activities held by VUFO but also showed great interest in and created favourable conditions for people-to-people exchange activities of the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association and the French Alumni Vietnam Association.
Nga expressed her belief that in any position, the French Ambassador will continue making active contributions to Vietnam-France people-to-people diplomatic activities, thus further deepening bilateral strategic partnership.
Warnery, for her part, thanked Vietnamese friends and partners for supporting him during his tenure in Vietnam.
He affirmed that France always wishes to strengthen collaboration with Vietnam in order to achieve even better results than the accomplishments made in the past five decades./.