Hundreds of activities to mark Francophone Day

Hundreds of celebrations are scheduled to be held across Viet Nam to mark the International Francophone Day (March 20).

Around 20 events will take place in Ha Noi between March-April, including French language contests, art exhibitions and economic cooperation forums.

Remarkably, a ceremony will be organised at the Ha Noi Opera House on Mar. 20 with the presence of Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and representatives from the diplomatic corp. and Viet Nams Francophone cooperation.

A series of cultural activities will also be held, including a writing contest on Ha Noi, a French story telling contest, a poem translation competition and an exchange between students of French from Ha Noi and Hai Phong. Also planned are meetings between representatives from the US-based computer maker, IBM and the French economic giant, AXA, and information technology students in Ha Noi.

High on the agenda will also be a photo exhibition "Paris through the lens", a film festival featuring films from Belgium, Egypt, Morocco and Switzerland. In addition, a regional conference on the challenges of cultural differences and services in international commercial negotiations faced by Asian countries and the fourth seminar of Francophone entrepreneurs is planned.

This is the fourth International Francophone Day to be jointly organised in Viet Nam by the Delegated Embassies and Francophone Institutions Group (GADIF), the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the International Francophone Organisation (IFO).

According to Christian Saelens, GADIF president, Viet Nam, which is home to 500,000 French-speaking people, including 180,000 French-language learners, will provide an additional voice for the Francophone community in the UN Security Council if it becomes a member during the 2008-09 term.

The Francophone community currently has 200 million people from 55 member countries and 13 observers.

(Source: VNA)