First Vietnamese culture day held in Croatia

Visitors to the Vietnamese Culture Day event have some Vietnamese food. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI - The Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb city, and Mladenaca Park on July 7 co-organised a Vietnamese Cultural Day – the first of its kind in Croatia, in Zagreb.

The event took place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries (July 1, 1994-2024).

Representatives from the Croatian ministry, Zagreb city, the Vietnamese diplomatic delegation in Croatia, Vietnamese businesses, associations, and communities attened the even together with thousands of local residents.

International friends and the Vietnamese community in Hungary and Croatia enjoyed Vietnamese musical performances and traditional dances of Croatia, and tried Vietnamese cuisine at the event.

An exhibition of photos and video clips about 30 years of Việt Nam-Croatia relations, Việt Nam and Vietnamese people was held along with a display of typical Vietnamese handicrafts and agricultural products. There were also activities to connect businesses of the two countries.

Speaking at the event, Petar Mihatov, Special Envoy of the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Director-General for Political Affairs under the ministry said that Croatia and Việt Nam share many similarities in their history of fighting for independence, their efforts to build and develop the countries, and have developed good political and diplomatic relations over the past 30 years.

The two countries have many beautiful landscapes and world cultural heritages recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which open up opportunities to promote their tourism cooperation and exchange experiences in many other fields such as culture, education, sports and people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary and Croatia Nguyễn Thị Bích Thảo emphasised that Việt Nam always attaches importance to consolidating and developing relations with traditional friends in the Balkans, of which Croatia is a priority.

The Ambassador said she believed the two countries will expand cooperation more effectively and substantially in many potential fields with complementary strengths such as food processing, logistics, clean energy, high technology, digital economy, and medicine.

On this occasion, she announced the nomination of an Honorary Consul of Việt Nam in Croatia. The Vietnamese community liaison committee in Croatia was also launched at the event.