According to the MCST, France is an important market with about 300,000 visitors to Vietnam every year.

In addition, many other European visitors come to Vietnam on direct flights between France’s Charles De Gaulle International Airport and Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

The number of European visitors has fallen recently, however, due to the global economic downturn. Vietnam is responding with tourism promotion campaigns in France and other European countries.

The MCST and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bought a building at 19 Albert Street, District 13 in Paris to establish the centre.

On display are 25 works of French artist Anne du Planty about the peaceful life in Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Hue during her visit to Vietnam last year.

These were selected from hundreds of photos and sketches serving as an inspiration documents for her paintings.

During the exhibition’s opening ceremony, Vietnam’s House held a fund-raising for street children in Vietnam.

The exhibition will last until June 6, 2009

“We focuses on talking about the logistic work during the campaign at the exhibit because it’s one of the important elements that contributed to that great success on May 7, 1954,” said Trieu Van Hien, the museum’s director.

Inhabitants throughout the country were ready to contribute everything they had, including- food and medicine, to serve the soldiers on the front and answer the call of President Ho Chi Minh. “All for the battlefront, all for the victory”, said the director. Event after nine years of arduous resistance, the Dien Bien Phu campaign remained the country’s most famous mobilization effort.

Visitors to the show can view original documents like a map of the Dien Bien Phu Valley and the order signed by General Vo Nguyen Giap sent to the Vietnam People’s Army during the campaign. The show also has a wide range of objects and images on display featuring logistics work for the campaign like bicycles used to transport supplies for Vietnamese forces to fight French troops.

Books written by General Giap about this great victory are also on display. Images of modern Dien Bien Phu City show the location as an attractive historic destination for both domestic and foreign visitors.

On May 9, to celebrate Museum Day, the museum will be open (free of charge) to all visitors. The museum will also host discussions with veterans who took part in the campaign.

The exhibition is part of the programme to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory over French colonialists on May 7. The show will run through June 5 at the Vietnam Revolution Museum located at 25 Tong Dan St, Hanoi.

At the Vietnam Military History Museum, located at 25A Dien Bien Phu St, 30 objects and 40 photos from the Dong Xuan (Winter-Spring) campaign (1953-1954) and Dien Bien Phu Victory are also on display through the end of May.

The ceramic picture which covers an area of 60m² is in front of the Long Bien bus station.  It has lay-out of bright colours such as red, orange, blue, yellow and be created by geometric shapes that Michael Geertsen cut from vases, bowls and plates in all shapes and sizes which he made.

At the invitation from the project chairman of “Ceramic road along the banks of Red River - the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi”, Michael Geertsen artist arrived Hanoi in late February, 2009 and worked in Bat Trang Pottery Village.

He is the first foreign artist who show his work for this project in Hanoi with assistance of Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF)