Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh wraps up working trip to Australia, New Zealand

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his wife, and a high-ranking delegation from Vietnam arrived back in Hanoi on March 12 morning, concluding a trip for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of dialogue relations, and official visits to Australia and New Zealand from March 5-11.

At the ASEAN – Australia Special Summit, leaders highlighted the importance and value of the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and set out a major orientation to promote comprehensive cooperation in all fields in the coming time.

They adopted the Melbourne Declaration - A Partnership for the Future and ASEAN-Australia Leaders' Vision Statement - Partners for Peace and Prosperity", which serves as a basis for implementing the ASEAN-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming time.

At the sessions of the Special Summit, PM Chinh underlined the necessity to create breakthroughs and promote mutual commitments to further strengthen the ASEAN – Australia relations to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

Notably, he had bilateral meetings with heads of participating delegations, including leaders of ASEAN countries, Timor Leste, Australia and New Zealand, and the Secretary General of ASEAN, focusing discussions to tighten friendship and promote bilateral cooperation.

The Prime Minister's official visits to Australia and New Zealand were a success in all aspects and an important milestone in the relationship between Vietnam and the two countries. In particular, Vietnam and Australia upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and Vietnam and New Zealand agreed to promote bilateral relations to a new height.

Also during the visits, the two sides signed nearly 30 cooperation documents in the fields of education, training, innovation, goods and services, aviation, energy, mining, trade, investment, finance, banking, agriculture, environment, labor and employment, justice, and defense.

President Vo Van Thuong (R) and Prosecutor General of Mongolia Jargalsaikhan Banzragch (Photo: VNA)

President hosts Prosecutor General of Mongolia

President Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception in Hanoi on March 11 for Prosecutor General of Mongolia Jargalsaikhan Banzragch, expressing the belief that his visit will further deepen ties between the two countries, especially their procuracy sectors on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations this year.

President Thuong highlighted the positive outcomes of the bilateral relationship over the past seven decades, emphasizing the benefits for both nations' citizens. He specifically cited Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit to Vietnam in late 2023 as a catalyst for new and significant cooperation opportunities, including further strengthening ties between the two procuracies and people-to-people exchanges.

As Vietnam is aiming to become a developed country with modern industry and high middle income by 2030, he said the country has many tasks ahead, including building a rule-of-law state of the people, by the people and for the people; and developing a transparent legal system in which the Supreme People's Procuracy plays a crucial role.

Expressing his delight at key orientations to improving coordination efficiency set by leaders during Banzragch's visit, Thuong wished that both sides would actively work together to better perform tasks of each procuracy sector; fight against crimes, particularly transnational crimes, and facilitate the exchange of delegations of procuracy staff at all levels to share and improve professional expertise and skills.

Banzragch, for his part, said during his visit, leaders of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam and the Prosecutor General's Office of Mongolia have agreed to enhance cooperation in protecting the rights and interests of citizens of each country, preventing transnational security threats and cybercrime while facilitating the exchange of delegations of procuracy staff at both central and local levels. He described his visit as a turning point in the cooperative relationship between the two procuracy sectors, a foundational pillar of Vietnam-Mongolia relations. The guest wished to welcome President Thuong in Mongolia at his earliest convenience.

A Hai Boi performance (Photo: VOV)

Google Arts & Culture introduces Vietnam’s Hat Boi art genre

Google Arts & Culture recently released an article introducing Vietnamese Hat Boi, a type of classical opera. According to Cultura Fish (Hieu Van Ngu), Hat Boi is part of the “Alternative Identities: Masks of ASEAN and Korea” exhibition to introduce “other faces” created under the theme of “Mask”, which is the cultural heritage of humanity.

The event is being jointly held by KF ASEAN Culture House and the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP) and consists of five sections. The art of Hat Boi is introduced in Section 3.

In Google Arts & Culture’s description, Hat Boi or Tuong is a traditional Vietnamese classical drama that encourages Vietnamese people to consider their past and present lives. This type of mask drama seeks to combine both music and dance, whilst also featuring distinctive makeup and costumes.

The website noted that Hat Boi dramatizes Vietnamese folk tales or fables, whilst it can also be based on various scripts created which have historical, political, social, and cultural settings.

“It portrays figures from various walks of life including kings, queens, generals, maids, ladies, and students. It also aesthetically depicts heroic characters and lessons on human deeds such as sacrifice for the greater cause,” says Google Arts & Culture.

It also notes that the various colors and patterns used on the faces have symbolic meanings and representations. For example, a white face symbolizes gentleness and quietness, while red stands for wisdom, courage, and staunchness. Moreover, a striped face signifies an ugly person with a hot temper.

Google Arts & Culture is an online platform developed by Google in order to showcase the rich heritage of diverse cultures, art, art movements, and various civilizations from around the world. Through its virtual reality interface, Google Arts & Culture allows users to explore and discover these rich masterpieces using only their Google accounts and mobile phones, PCs, or top-of-the-line Chromebooks.

At the opening ceremony of the UN staff officer training course (Photo: VOV)

UN staff officer training course opens in Hanoi

A United Nations staff officer training course kicked off at the Hanoi-based Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations on March 11 within the framework of Canada's Military Training and Cooperation Programme (MTCP). Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Binh, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), and Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Steil co-chaired the opening ceremony.

With the participation of 64 lecturers, coordinators, and officers, the course will equip the staff officers with professional knowledge and skills. It is also set to raise Vietnam’s capacity for organising intensive international training courses on UN peacekeeping operations and developing a contingent of UN peacekeeping lecturers, and strengthening the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Canada and international partners in this regard.

In his remarks, Binh highlighted the whole-hearted, valuable support from Canada to Vietnam in the preparation and deployment of forces for UN peacekeeping operations over the past 10 years, especially in training. This is the first training of its kind co-organized by Vietnam and Canada, and the fourth intensive international training course on UN peacekeeping jointly held in Vietnam by the two countries, he added.

For his part, Steil emphasized the Vietnam-Canada cooperation in peacekeeping with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2023, saying the course further demonstrates their growing collaboration in this field.

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