Ambassador Eshcar (left) and his driver Nguyen Luong in the music video. Photo courtesy of Embassy Of Israel In Vietnam

Ambassador of Israel to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar surprised the public by performing the entire song Ngay Tet que em (New Year's Day in my hometown) in Vietnamese with the driver.

“This is Israel’s New Year’s greetings for all our Vietnamese friends. We wish everyone a peaceful, prosperous and joyful Year of the Tiger. The song is also refreshed with four verses by Hebrew,” the Israeli embassy in Vietnam said when releasing the video on Jan. 28.

Ambassador Nadav Eshcar and driver Nguyen Luong wore ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costume) and performed the song at many landmarks of Hanoi such as flower market, Hang Ma street and Tran Quoc pagoda. He also drank iced tea, a street drink of Hanoi and tried a sidewalk haircut.

Notably, the Israeli diplomat also added a bit of his hometown identity to the song by performing part of it in Hebrew.

He said the song is a New Year's greeting for Vietnamese friends.

Ambassador Nadav Eshcar and driver Nguyen Luong wore ao dai. Photo courtesy of Embassy Of Israel In Vietnam

“Ambassador Eshcar proposed the idea of ​​​​making a video and considered it a gift to Vietnamese friends before the end of the 5-year term,” the Israeli embassy shared with VnExpress. The video production process takes about a week from ideation to finished product.

In past Tet holidays, he has experienced making Chung cake, an indispensable dishes of Vietnamese people on Tet holiday, with kindergarten students, writing calligraphy and learning how to make ao dai.

Eshcar started his working term in Hanoi in August 2017. He said he loved Vietnamese culture and had a lot of affection for the country

For Lunar New Year, the ambassador also had an interview with Vietnam News Agency on Jan. 18 in which he said that Vietnam has had great success in its efforts to combat Covid-19, and the trade relationship between Vietnam and Israel captured many great opportunities.

The ambassador said the government had to struggle very hard to find solutions for the health element first and foremost, with the country’s vaccine rollout being key.

The diplomat also complimented the country’s economic resilience despite the collapse of many businesses and supply chain disruptions globally, saying it was a surprise for him to witness Vietnam - Israel trade expand 36% in 2020 and some 15-20% in 2021.

Vietnam and Israel established official diplomatic relations in 1993. Bilateral relations are increasingly developing in many fields, especially trade and high technology serving agriculture, health care, and cooperation against the Covid pandemic.

Vietnam is Israel’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia with a trade turnover of about USD 1.8 billion in 2020. The two countries are negotiating a free trade agreement which is expected to provide strong momentum for the two economies to advance further.

In regard to discussions between the two on a labour agreement to send Vietnamese to work in agriculture in Israel, which were launched last year, Eshcar said “the agreement has to be done very carefully to make sure the rights of workers are fully maintained in the best manner possible.

The Embassy of Israel in last December presented more than 22,000 plants to farmers in Bac Phong commune, Cao Phong district, the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, in response to the one-billion-tree growing project launched by the Vietnamese Prime Minister.

A seminar to promote agricultural trade and investment and cooperation between enterprises of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang and Israel also has been held in the Vietnamese locality this month.

Israeli ambassador and Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 inaugurated a library for a semi-boarding ethnic minority elementary school in Minh Son commune, Bac Me district on the same day.

Israeli Ambassador: Vietnam Professional in Pandemic Response Vietnam was very professional in managing to stop the pandemic from going into the country, Ambassador of Israel to Vietnam Nadav Eshca has said.

Embassies Plant Trees and Raise Awareness of Greener Life in Vietnam Embassies in Vietnam are doing their part to combat the ill effects of climate change and promote environmental protection.

Embassy Of Israel In Vietnam Donates 10,000 Face Masks To Duc Giang General Hospital On November 11, the Embassy of Israel in Vietnam presented 10,000 Medical FFP2 face masks to Duc Giang General Hospital in Hanoi.