Overview of the meeting

At the meeting, Mr. Edgar - Chief Representative of the BRAP-OIF Office, highlighted that OIF is an international organization for French-speaking countries - a community of nations and territories using the French language, commonly referred to as the Francophonie.

Comprising 56 official and 19 non-official members, in recent times, OIF has cooperated in providing specialized training for French language teachers nationwide, including those teaching French and French bilingual programs in Hue.

In 2018, the Francophonie supported the 10th Hue Festival by bringing a Moroccan band to perform at the event, along with holding emergency support activities for scholarships for Hue University students and presenting French textbooks for University of Foreign Languages, Hue University.

Mr. Edgar Doerig expressed his desire to strengthen the cooperation in the fields where Thua Thien Hue excels, particularly in education, training, and cultural exchange. This would create opportunities for international Francophonie members to research, cooperate, and invest in Thua Thien Hue.

Exchanging at the meeting, Mr. Aldo de Luca, Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland to Vietnam, expressed his delight at visiting and working in Thua Thien Hue for the first time.

 Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh presenting a souvenir to Mr. Edgar Doerig, Head of BRAP-OIF office

Deputy Ambassador Aldo de Luca affirmed that the good relationship between Vietnam and Switzerland would be favorable conditions for the Swiss government, organizations, and businesses to collaborate, invest, and exchange in various fields in Vietnam, including Thua Thien Hue.

Switzerland has implemented numerous Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects for development in Thua Thien Hue, covering areas such as environment (waste treatment, green development), urban development, tourism, medicine, and sustainable development.

Mr. Aldo de Luca expressed the hope that in the coming time, both sides would enhance cooperation, trade exchange, apply digital technology, and sustain their collaboration in various sectors.

On behalf of the provincial leaders, Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh expressed the pleasure to welcome Mr. Edgar Doerig and Mr. Aldo de Luca on their trip to visit and work in Thua Thien Hue.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh expressed the province's desire for the Francophonie and the Swiss Embassy to show interest and support Thua Thien Hue in connecting and strengthening cooperation in investment, trade, education, healthcare, tourism, and cultural exchange with partners from the Francophonie community. Additionally, he hoped for support in introducing and promoting the potential and strengths of Thua Thien Hue to investors.

This ongoing support aims to contribute to the development of tourism, cultural cooperation, sustainable forest development, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and green development. The province also seeks support in education – training cooperation, lecturer-student exchanges, scientific research, scholarship provision, and the training of scientific and technological manpower… studying the possibility of sending high-quality artistic delegations to participate in upcoming Hue Festivals.

By LE THO