Officials from the two provinces made the statement at a meeting on August 10 on the occasion of a visit to Australia by a delegation from Hoi An City, led by the deputy head of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Dung.

The delegation attended a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Kiama City Council and other activities to commemorate the 64th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day held by the Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of a cooperation agreement which was signed during a visit to Hoi An City by a delegation from the Kiama City Council last November.

Mayor of the Australian city, Sandra McCarthy, said the meeting helped not only strengthen the two countries’ friendship but also created cooperation in the fields of business, tourism and community activities.

After the meeting, Kiama City plans to hold more cultural exchange activities and reciprocal visits, she added.

The same day, a joint flag-raising ceremony was held in commemoration of the anniversaries being celebrated on both sides.

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney and the delegation from Hoi An presented Vietnamese books and magazines to the Kiama City library and enjoyed a musical performance of Vietnamese students after the ceremony.

Kiama City is a famous tourism site in the state of New South Wales. Over the years, local people and enterprises have donated about AUD 240,000 to Operation Smile Vietnam to provide healthcare services and perform free operations on Vietnamese children born with facial deformities, such as cleft palates and hare-lips.

Present at the event were over 100 managers and researchers from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the UK, India, Thailand, Cambodia and France.

The seminar focused on 3 issues research achievements based on historical sources and new discoveries about Sa Huynh culture, effects of the Sa Huynh culture on the Vietnamese culture and projects, approaches to conserve heritages of this culture.

Since first discovered in 1909, there have been 120 Sa Huynh relics found and identified from Ha Tinh Province to Binh Thuan Province.

According to Vice Director of the Lam Dong museum Doan Bich Ngo, the two sets of Dan Da, comprising a total of 53 stone slabs, were discovered in Hoa Nam and Lien Dam communes in Di Linh District.

The Hoa Nam lithophone consists of 30 slabs but only 18 remain intact while 12 other have been partly broken. The Lien Dam lithophone has 23 pieces, and only 4 are broken. They are said to possess the largest number of slabs so far.

According to archaeologists, the new sets of lithophone share similarities in the type of used stone and also the shaping technique to make slabs strike notes when playing.

They also share similarities in the arrangement of slabs with those found in Dinh La and Son Dien communes, also in Di Linh District, which were made public in late 2007.

“The finding proves that Lam Dong is a cradle of lithophone and a lot of amazing and mysterious things may be still buried under its soil waiting to be discovered,” said Ngo.

Amidst a declining trend in global tourism, the organisers hope that the expo will serve as an ideal venue for 300 “buyers” and “sellers” from 28 countries and territories worldwide to set up partnership.

According to the organisers, more than 1,500 meetings between “buyers” and “sellers” have already been scheduled through the online, automatic pre-scheduled appointment (PSA) system.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Chien Thang confirmed the resolve to promote the images of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and bring their jointly-provided products to international friends.

As part of the expo, a seminar was held to introduce Vietnam’s new tourist sites and celebrations planned for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, as well as tours that connect tourist destinations of the three nations.

More than 100 delegates, including government officials and investors from 15 countries, are expected to attend a Tourism Investment Conference (TIC) to discuss ways to develop tourism in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The organisers will take this occasion to present Tourism Alliance Awards to 20 most outstanding businesses operating in the tourism service industry in the three regional countries.

ITE HCMC 2009, co-organised by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam National Trade Fair and Advertising Company (Vinexad) and the IIR Exhibition Company of Singapore, will run until October 3.