Addressing the opening ceremony, a diplomat from the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea (RoK) stressed that the exhibition was a significant event to help the two people understand more about culture and customs of each nation.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hoang Tuan, Deputy Director of the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre, expressed his hope that this tour would contribute to boosting relations between the two countries.

On September 6, 2008, the water puppetry group gave a performance to families of Vietnamese wives in the RoK.

Addressing the press conference, Director of the Hanoi Foreign Affairs Service Ha Van Que affirmed that the multi-faceted cooperation between Hanoi and Moscow for mutual benefits and development has been constantly developed. The growing ties were further enhanced by the Moscow Culture Days held in Hanoi in 2001 and the Hanoi Culture Days in Moscow in 2002.

The “Hanoi Days in Moscow” programme from July 16-23 will include a water puppet performance, a fashion show, a Vietnamese film show, song and dance performances and photo exhibitions.

Seminars to promote Hanoi-Moscow cooperation in investment, trade and tourism will be held, along with a ground breaking ceremony for the Hanoi-Moscow Cultural and Trade Centre.

The city official said that Hanoi hopes to draw Moscow businesses’ attention to urban design consultation and planning, construction of new residential areas and transportation.

Vice Director of the Moscow International Relations and External Economics Service Vladimir Lebed took the occasion to confirm that Moscow welcomes Vietnamese businesses and skilled Vietnamese workers to do business and work in the city.

Quang Tri province lies on the EWEC and the north-south route with the Ho Chi Minh Highway crossing, Cua Viet port and a railway system. Dong Ha Railway Station in Quang Tri is within the East-West railway project.

Dong Ha township, the provincial administrative and trade centre, is receiving great investment for upgrade. The Lao Bao International Border Gate and Lao Bao Special Economic and Trade Zone act as the provincial western gateway to connect with other provinces of countries in ASEAN. The zone is receiving special attention and investment with special priority policies. Plus the Densavan Economic Zone in Laos, the area is becoming an important transaction and trade economic zone within the framework of regional economic co-operation and integration.

Recently, central localities in Vietnam have had activities to explore the opportunities that the EWEC has held out. Quang Tri have also done the same with various activities including a seminar on East-West tourism, a trans-Asia span cultural and tourism festival, trade fairs as well as investment promotion activities.

According to Director of The Management Board of Tourism Sites in Quang Tri, Nguyen Huy, the roadmap to explore the EWEC is being implemented. Countries have started to apply visa exemption. Border provinces have organised special seminars to create favourable conditions to bring into full play the advantages of each locality, streamline customs and import, export procedures to facilitate tourists as well as transport and circulation of goods and traveling of border citizens.

Most recently, after an inspection visit of the EWEC in September, 2008 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Xuan Hung spoke highly of the corridor. He urged Quang Tri (and Da Nang) to continue to improve infrastructural facilities and build a soft infrastructure (including regulations, logistics services, warehouses, wayside stations, vocational training…) to accelerate trade and attract more investments.

To help promote trade and tourism, in recent years, Quang Tri province has invested in building its urban system, trade and services economic centres and tourism sites.

The Dong Ha and Lao Bao trade and service zones have become regional and national trade and service centres, a stop station for shopping by tourists on the north-south and east-west routes.

Together with promoting trade, Quang Tri has attached importance to attracting tourists. The locality has paid attention to diversifying tours, upgrading tourism infrastructural facilities such as restaurants, hotels, and improving the quality of services.

Initial results and solutions for development

To effectively exploring the local potentials to facilitate trade and tourism, Quang Tri has paid attention to the work of trade and tourism promotion via seminars, international fairs, calling for potential investors to the locality.

In the first nine months of 2008, Quang Tri has attracted over 250,000 tourists, including 51,000 foreign tourists. Total tourism revenue reached VND 430 billion. Total service and goods retail revenue in the first three quarters of this year hit over VND 4.3 trillion, up more than 33% against the same period last year.

Quang Tri has been granted a loan of US$ 1.7 million from the Asian Development Bank to help fight hunger and poverty and develop tourism. The locality has also attracted 25 new investment projects in tourism with total capital of over VND 6 trillion.

In the coming time, Quang Tri has set it a target to promote regional tourism co-operation and development, especially with Mucdahan province of Thailand and Savannakhet province of Laos.

Among the measures to promote trade and tourism, Quang Tri has attached importance to creating a transparent and favourable environment for investors with incentives and priority policies; streamlining administrative procedures, raising the people’s awareness of environmental protection, particularly in tourism sites, trade and service centres and public areas to contribute to sustainable trade and tourism development in Quang Tri to meet attractive, friendly, civilised and modern criteria.

The seminar, themed “Preserving and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions: sharing Asian and European experiences”, is the first of several Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) activities focusing on cultural diversity.

It is co-organised by the European Commission delegation to Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

Addressing the event, MCST Deputy Minister Tran Chien Thang said that the two-day event provides an open forum for discussions on cultural expressions in order to preserve and promote identities in cultural diversity. Through the seminar, Vietnam wants to share its opinions and policies on cultural development.

Ambassador Sean Doyle, Head of the EC Delegation, spoke highly of Vietnam’s policies, saying that the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to join the UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and make it a national policy would help ethnic groups to preserve their identities in a culturally-diversified environment.

According to UNESCO Representative Ana de Oliveira E. Silva, the cultural diversity will help countries to have more diversified outlooks on protecting and respecting others’ cultures and raise public awareness of cultural preservation and development.

The seminar will run until December 16, with speeches to be delivered by 30 speakers from Asian and European countries.