The painting exhibition themed “From Havana to Hanoi: Faces and Places” is the idea of Director of the Dutch ARTANA fine arts organisation John Dunkelgrun, who said Vietnam and Cuba have many similarities and the arts have an important role in their history and social life.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Holland Ha Huy Thong, the exhibition will help increase artistic cooperation and mutual understanding between Vietnam, Cuba and the Netherlands.

The exhibition is open to the public from October 12- 26, 2008.

The newly established organisation also aims to support religious activities in accordance with the Party and State’s policies.

Signatories to the document were the Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh and the Laos Minister of Information and Culture, Mun Keo O La Bun.

Under the agreement, both sides will co-organise cultural weeks in Laos and Vietnam every two years to mark the National Day of each country. Art performances, exhibitions and film screenings will be held during the events.

The first Vietnam Cultural Week in Laos is expected to take place in late August 2009 to celebrate Vietnam’s National Day (September 2) and the Year of Cultural Diplomacy 2009.

The two ministries will continue to create favourable conditions for their agencies to share experience and improve professional skills as well as organising cultural exchanges between their border provinces.

In the 2007-2008 period, Vietnam sent lighting and sound technicians to help Laos organise its National Sports Festival effectively. In addition, it helped the Laos National Library compile documents on library management and provided it with library equipment.

Both ministries got involved in a project funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), to build public libraries in the two countries.

The Head of the Kuala Lumpur authority, Muhamad Sidek said he hoped that city members of the council would disseminate information about the grand celebration to travel companies and tourists.

Dewi Susanti, director of the centre for tourism service in Jakarta said that the celebration would be a good opportunity for tourism promotion.

The seventh annual conference of the council opened in Hanoi on Sunday to seek ways to develop the regional tourism network.

The council said that it would focus on building a strong link between private travel companies of member cities.

The President of the Hanoi Travel Association, Nguyen Quang Lan, suggested the council offer support for missior travel enterprises.

Sidek agreed that close cooperation between private and State travel companies would be vital in developing tourism.

The function was attended by representatives from Hanoi, Bangkok, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, New Delhi, Jakarta, Manila and Seoul.