The Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam shared her feelings about the Tet atmosphere of Vietnamese people, as well as the directions for developing Vietnam - Norway relations in the coming time.

Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Hilde Solbakken - Photo: VGP/Quang Thuong

This is your second Tet in Vietnam. How do you feel about the atmosphere of Tet and Spring in Vietnam?

Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Solbakken: I really like Tet. First, we must mention the exciting and bustling atmosphere of the weeks before Tet. Everyone was busy shopping for peach blossoms and kumquat trees. Women were even busier because they had to prepare shopping, cook traditional dishes for Tet, and clean the house. In general, Tet is a happy time for Vietnamese people.

The special thing I realize is that Tet is a holiday for the loved ones to gather around, and wish New Year to their parents, relatives, and friends. I often celebrate Tet with my family. This year, we will travel to more destinations in Vietnam.

I hope that in the new year, I will have the opportunity to visit more regions in Vietnam. Over the past year, I have visited about 28 provinces and cities in Vietnam, and my goal in 2024 is to increase this number to 40.

What impresses you most about Vietnamese culture and lifestyle? How do you evaluate the traditions of Vietnamese people?

Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Solbakken: I must admit that I love enjoying food in different countries. Every time I go anywhere I try to enjoy local specialties. One of the most amazing experiences in Vietnam is enjoying the traditional dishes.

From the perspective of history and tradition, although Vietnam is developing rapidly, I realize that Vietnamese people always value, preserve, and maintain traditional features. In my opinion, Vietnamese people have a very high sense of community. People are always conscious of helping each other anytime, anywhere. I find this to be a precious tradition.

Strengthen cooperation between Vietnam and Norway in energy transition

Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Hilde Solbakken, with her husband and daughter, visited Duong Lam Ancient Village - Photo: VGP/Quang Thuong

What aspect of the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Norway are you most proud of, in 2023?

Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Solbakken: Relations between the two countries reaped significant achievements in many areas of cooperation, especially green energy transformation. The most important milestone is the official visit to Norway of Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan at the end of November last year.

We are happy to have the opportunity to introduce the country, people, and strengths of Norway to the Vice President. We hope that next year, there will be many senior Norwegian leaders visiting Vietnam.

Can you share about future cooperation programs between Norway and Vietnam?

Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Solbakken: Climate change cooperation and plastic reduction are two areas that I am very excited about. Norway is providing technological support to replace coal with non-recyclable plastic as raw material in the cement industry.

Vietnam is the world's third largest cement producer and the cement industry emits an amount of CO2 accounting for 1/3 of the total CO2 emissions. Therefore, if it is possible to replace coal with non-recyclable plastic waste, this method will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in the future.

We are trying to link this project with the plastic reduction initiative that Norway is undertaking. Specifically, we work with craft villages in Vietnam. They have mechanisms to collect and classify plastic waste to recycle what they can, while the rest, non-recyclable waste will be sent to landfills or burned.

With this new project, we will use all non-recyclable plastic waste as input materials instead of coal. We are trying to connect in this value chain to implement the said project.

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