Top ten events of cultural diplomacy

1. For the first time, cultural diplomacy was incorporated in the documents adopted at the 11^th National Party Congress, thus, it became one of the pillars of Việt Nam’s comprehensive foreign policy.

2. On February 14, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng signed Decision 208/QĐ-TTg to ratify the Strategy for cultural diplomacy until 2020 in a bid to concretize the 11^th National Party Congress’ documents.

The strategy figures out specific targets, tasks and solutions for the deployment of cultural diplomacy to make the country further integrate into the global community.

3. To promote the image of President Hồ Chí Minh across the world, Việt Nam continued to erect the statute of President Hồ Chí Minh in Singapore and the Philippines while surveying some other places for building the Statute of the President.

4. On June 27, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially recognized Hồ Dynasty Citadel as the World Cultural Heritage, sending the number of Việt Nam’s world cultural heritage sites to five.

The Hồ Dynasty Citadel was built more than 600 years ago in Vĩnh Lộc District, Thanh Hóa Province.

5. On November 24, Xoan Singing as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection by UNESCO, sending the number of UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritages to six.

Xoan singing in Phú Thọ Province dates back to the era of the Hùng Kings. It is also known as Xuân (Spring) singing because it is usually performed in the springtime to pray for peace, bumper crops, and favorable weather, and to show gratitude to the Hùng Kings.

6. In May, 82 stelae commemorating laureates at court exams from the 15th to 18th century at Hà Nội's Temple of Literature as world documentary heritage.

The stelae, which bear the names of Trạng Nguyên, Bảng Nhãn, Thám Hoa, and Hoàng Giáp (the first, second, third and fourth winning categories at the royal competition), sit on top of stone turtles.

7. A string of activities were organized to promote the image of Việt Nam abroad, particularly in Belgium, France, Japan and others.

8. A series of activities were organized to celebrate 100 years of the day President Hồ Chí Minh arrived in France on his trip for national salvation and 65th anniversary of his visit to France.

9. Cultural diplomacy helps localities to host international events like the International Buôn Ma Thuột Coffee Festival in January, National Tourism Year in April, and First International Tea Festival- Thái Nguyên in November,.

10. For the first time, training courses on cultural diplomacy were organized for leaders of Party organs, provincial departments, district-level and businesses of the northern province of Vĩnh Phúc.

Refresher courses on cultural diplomacy were also organized in provinces like Quảng Bình, An Giang, Hà Giang, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên, Bạc Liêu, Yên Bái, Nam Định and others.

By Hải Minh