"Ambassador Nicolas Warnery paid special attention to activities of peace, solidarity, friendship, and cultural and artistic exchanges between the people of Vietnam and France. He actively participated in foreign affairs activities organized by the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations. He shows special attention to and creates favorable conditions for people-to-people external activities of the Vietnam - France Friendship and Cooperation Association and the Vietnam Alumni Association in France, making practical contributions to fostering the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two peoples."

The statement was made by Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) while reviewing the contributions of Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Vietnam at the ceremony to award the "For peace and friendship among nations" medal.

Friendship projects that bring practical benefits to the people

In July 2019, Ambassador Nicolas Warnery started his term of office in Vietnam. His efforts to promote cooperation between the two countries are remarkably shown in the areas of energy transition, response to climate change, and green growth. It is expressed through specific activities such as promoting projects to reduce plastic waste, limiting the use of fossil energy, controlling air pollution, transferring technology, exchanging information on French legal policies and experience, granting new funding to expand the Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in power generation.

French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery (outer right) visits Kim Dai Lock (Ninh Binh, Vietnam) funded by the French Development Agency AFD with a capital of 19.2 million euros. The project helps the locality effectively prevent saline intrusion and adapt to climate change.

The Ambassador also played an important role in promoting many French cooperation projects with Vietnam in urban transport, including the pilot urban railway project in Hanoi, Nhon - Ha Noi Station section, which brings together many companies with internationally recognized experts, technical experience and financial support from France.

The project allows to reduce 20.000 tons of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions per year and contributes to the joint effort to combat climate change. When the project is put into operation, people in Hanoi are benefited from a modern, environmentally friendly, and convenient means of transport.

French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery (second from right) visits Hanoi's urban railway line 3, a symbol of France-Vietnam cooperation in urban transport.

Ambassador Nicolas Warnery also pays special attention to heritage conservation. France has strongly participated in honoring the heritage of Vietnamese museums. This enables groups of experts from France's largest museums to cooperate with a number of Vietnamese museums. At the same time, many French local governments have invested in heritage cooperation.

He devoted to teaching French to Vietnamese students, promoting the expansion of the educational model of French bilingual classes and courses to contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and cultivating people-to-people relations between the two countries, especially from the young generation.

In economy and health, Ambassador Nicolas Warnery made many positive contributions, such as promoting and facilitating connections for businesses of the two countries to effectively implement the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EVFTA), increasing exports of French products to Vietnam, campaigning for the French government and organizations to donate two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by 2021 and many rounds of vaccine support for Vietnam through the COVAX Facility.

Economic cooperation between the two countries has recorded strong progress. After the Covid-19 pandemic, bilateral trade turnover quickly recovered to 5.3 billion euros in 2022, marking a 10% increase compared to 2021. France is the EU's second largest foreign direct investment partner in Vietnam with a total registered capital of more than 3.6 billion USD and is also the leading funding partner in the European region for Vietnam in education - training, culture, tourism, science, and technology.

Vietnam-France relations to develop into a more practical and brilliant stage

According to President Nguyen Phuong Nga, Ambassador Nicolas Warnery closely accompanied activities of peace, solidarity, friendship, and cultural and artistic exchanges between the people of Vietnam and France. With many cultural exchange activities and effective training programs, the French Institute in Hanoi and some big provinces and cities in Vietnam are prestigious and well-known addresses loved and trusted by the Vietnamese when they want to learn about the French language, culture, country, and people.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, from the beginning of 2023, diverse activities to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples have taken place in many provinces and cities of Vietnam, such as the 3D Exhibition on Quoc Tu Giam, Balade en France Festival with food stalls, new experiences and chances to exchanges, the 12th Vietnam-France Cooperation Conference, exhibitions about France, “The Little Prince” concert, fashion contest. These events attract the attention of the public.

Besides activities organized by the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations, he paid much attention to and created favorable conditions for the people-to-people relations activities of the Vietnam - France Friendship and Cooperation Association and the Vietnam Alumni Association in France.

President of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations Nguyen Phuong Nga presents the medal "For Peace and Friendship among Nations" to H.E. Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Vietnam (Photo: Thu Ha).

"Cooperation activities between the two countries in many fields have been prosperous, vibrant, and effective during Ambassador Warnery's tenure in Vietnam. My speech, though long, was not able to show all of his contributions to bilateral relations. The medal "For peace and friendship between peoples" is VUFO's highest award to recognize and honor Ambassador Nicolas Warnery's valuable contributions in consolidating and promoting mutual understanding, friendship, exchange, and cooperation between the peoples of Vietnam and France," said President Nguyen Phuong Nga.

Nguyen Phuong Nga believes that Ambassador Warnery will continue to pay attention to and make active contributions to Vietnam - France's people-to-people diplomacy activities, contributing to deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Ambassador Nicolas Warnery spoke at VUFO's medal awarding ceremony (Photo: Thu Ha).

In his acceptance speech, French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery expressed his emotion at VUFO's recognition and honor and the solemn but friendly atmosphere of the ceremony. He voiced his hope and belief that the cooperation between the two countries in the next 50 years will continue to be consolidated, strengthened, and strongly develop to achieve better results, which is the common desire and determination of the leaders of the two sides.

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