The President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) held a ceremony to confer "The Medal for Peace and Friendship among Nations" to Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Vietnam Elsbeth Akkerman on July 28.

Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of VUFO (right) presented the award to Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman (Photo: Zoey Nguyen)

Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of VUFO expressed her honor to present this medal to Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman.

She said: "With her large experience and enthusiasm, Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman has made contributions to fostering the understanding and the friendship between the two countries and enhancing our cooperation. Through her role, she is responsible for upgrading our relations to "comprehensive partnership" as well as in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two Governments on cooperation in agricultural transformation in the Mekong Delta, the Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Support during the official visit of Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Vietnam in April 2019.

Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga mentioned some of the most outstanding jobs done by Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman, for example: In the complicated context of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, thanks to her active role, the Netherland's government and enterprises have donated to Viet Nam a large number of ventilators and medical equipment with the total value approximately of VND 43 billion (US $1.8 million), which was a valuable and effective support to help the Vietnamese people overcome the pandemic. The Ambassador has worked very hard to promote the active role of the Netherlands in the realization of the Agricultural Transformation Program and the Research Program on Subsidence in the Mekong Delta, promoting educational cooperation between Vietnam and the Netherlands in the fields of agriculture and water management ....

The Dutch Ambassador has attached great importance to the promotion of the friendly cooperative relations between our two peoples. She has supported and important participated in people-to-people activities organized by VUFO and the Vietnam-Netherlands Friendship and Cooperation Association such as friendship exchanges, celebrations of the events, national holidays of the two countries … Particularly, the Ambassador brought the World Press Photo Exhibition to Vietnam in the years from 2019 to 2022, which help Vietnamese people and international friends to better understand the problems facing humanity

Also, the President of VUFO especially thanked the Dutch diplomat for being an active member of the Women's Networking and for raising awareness, promoting gender equality.

The delegation from VUFO, the Vietnam - Netherlands Friendship and Cooperation Association and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Vietnam at the ceremony (Photo: Zoey Nguyen).

In response, Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman said it was her great honor to receive such warm hospitality and friendliness from the President of VUFO and the Vietnam - Netherlands Friendship and Cooperation Association. She considers Vietnam her second home and will continue to make contributions to further develop the friendship and cooperation relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

"Receiving this award that is all about people, friendship and bilateral relationships, I will cherish it very much and I will wear it with great honor!" exclaimed Ambassador Elsbeth Akkerman.

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