(VOVworld) Vietnamese diplomatic representative agencies in many countries have hosted a range of activities to join expatriates in celebrating the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet), which is only one week away.

Participants at the gathering in Jakarta, Indonesia, toast the traditional Tet (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese Embassy in Slovakia held a meeting to celebrate with the participation of nearly 400 overseas Vietnamese. This is the first time such a large meeting was held. Vietnamese Ambassador Ho Dac Minh informed overseas Vietnamese of the outcomes of the 12th National Party Congress and Vietnam’s socio-economic development in 2015.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel held a gathering of overseas Vietnamese, students and workers. Ambassador Cao Tran Quoc Hai urged the overseas Vietnamese community to contribute to boosting ties between Vietnam and Israel. A similar meeting was held in Vienna, Austria drawing the participation of nearly 1,000 overseas Vietnamese and foreign friends. At the New Year gala, performances of songs, dances and traditional costumes were held. A luck draw program took place collecting nearly 2,000 euros as a donation to the Golden Heart Fund in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa held a New Year celebration in Pretoria. 200 representatives of the Vietnamese community from South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, and neighboring countries attended the event. Foreign guests and overseas Vietnamese tasted traditional Vietnamese Tet foods and enjoyed art performances.

Similar events were held in Wellington, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Canada.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Laos held a ceremony on Sunday in Vientiane for overseas Vietnamese to welcome the lunar New Year. Participants enjoyed traditional Vietnamese cuisine and art performances. Nguyen Thi Nuong is a Vietnamese Laotian: "We are happy and grateful to the Embassy for organizing such a meaningful event for us to turn our hearts and souls to the fatherland as Tet approaches and teach our younger generations about their origins."


Tet celebrations for overseas Vietnamese in Laos

300 overseas Vietnamese, businesses, students, and international friends attended a ceremony held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK on Sunday to celebrate lunar New Year 2016. Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao briefed participants on Vietnam’s major achievements in 2015. He asked overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese students studying in the UK to stay united and do their best in their life and work to contribute to Vietnam-UK relations and promote Vietnam’s image abroad.

A get-together was held for overseas Vietnamese at the Vietnamese embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday, to mark the lunar New Year. Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan said Vietnamese people at home and abroad are welcoming lunar New Year 2016 with the success of the just concluded 12th National Party Congress.


OVs donate to "Supporting Truong Sa" program at a ceremony to welcome the lunar New Year at Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore

Similar events were held at the Vietnamese Embassies in Singapore and Italy. A program called “Supporting Truong Sa” was launched at the ceremony in Singapore to encourage overseas Vietnamese people to support soldiers stationed on the archipelago both spiritually and physically.

The Vietnam Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau held a ceremony for local overseas Vietnamese to welcome the lunar New Year. In his address, Consul General Hoang Chi Trung reviewed Vietnam’s achievements in 2015: continuous economic growth, stable security, and remarkable improvements in diplomacy. He said Vietnam has completed negotiations with other Asia Pacific countries on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, has signed free trade deals with the Republic of Korea and the European Union, and has witnessed the establishment of the ASEAN community. Trung said: "Spring has arrived with the success of the 12th National Party Congress. New policies and guidelines for Vietnam’s development in the next 5 years have been issued to turn Vietnam into an industrialized nation by 2020. We all hope that Vietnam will continue to reap success in realizing its goal of becoming a just, democratic, and civilized socialist nation."

Vietnam’s trade with Hong Kong and Macau, China, increased 15% in 2015 earning 14 billion USD. Trung said Hong Kong continues to be one of Vietnam’s major investors, attributing this to contributions by overseas Vietnamese to political, economic, and cultural relations with Hong Kong, and Macau over the past few years.


Consul General Hoang Chi Trung speaks at the event