A range of activities were organised in Australia, Germany, Libya and New Zealand to celebrate the 64th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day and the August Revolution.

Addressing a ceremony in Canberra on Aug. 31, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Thanh Tan highlighted the historical stages as well as great achievements the government and people of Vietnam have made over the past 64 years.

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in February 1973, Vietnam-Australia cooperative ties have produced fruitful results, especially in trade, investment, official development assistance, education, tourism, security and national defence.

Australia has emerged as one of Vietnam ’s major trade partners and one of the largest providers of scholarships to Vietnamese students, the ambassador noted.

Leaders of the two countries have increased the exchange of high-level visits and bilateral meetings on the sidelines of international events, the diplomat said.

He added that Vietnam and Australia have maintained effective cooperation within regional and international forums, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Embassy organised an exhibition of books and newspapers to introduce the land and people of Vietnam to Australian and foreign friends.

At another reception in New Zealand , the host country’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully congratulated and praised Vietnam ’s recent successes and expressed his belief that Vietnam would become a country with high prestige and position in the region in the years to come.

He said New Zealand is willing to lift bilateral relations to the level of a comprehensive partnership in the coming time and affirmed that his country wishes to beef up cooperation in economics, trade, investment, education, agriculture and tourism.

The minister thanked Vietnam for its support in regional and international forums and pledged to back Vietnam’s negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP).

New Zealand’s Parliamentary Speaker Lockwood Smith joined a number of ministers, parliament members and officials at the reception.

On Aug. 29, the Vietnamese Consulate General in the German city of Frankfurt hosted a banquet with the participation of nearly 300 guests, including local authorities, foreign consuls general, and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Germany .

Vietnamese Consul General Nguyen Huu Trang spoke highly of the progress in relations between Vietnam and Germany, and the state of Hessen in particular.

Rudolf Kriszeleit, Hessen’s Secretary of State for Justice, praised Vietnam’s increasing role and position in the regional and international arenas. He also pledged to work closely with Vietnam to organise various practical activities to mark 35 years of Germany-Vietnam diplomatic relations in 2010.

In Libya, close to 200 overseas Vietnamese people, students and representatives of 4,000 Vietnamese guest workers joined the embassy staff at a get-together.

Vietnam’s Ambassador to Libya Do Ba Khoa called on overseas Vietnamese in the resident country to unite with each other to weather difficulties, fulfil their tasks and promote the good image of Vietnamese guest workers in Libya./.