The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the ASEAN Community Women’s Circle of Hanoi (AWCH) held various activities as part of the ASEAN Family Day 2018 in Hanoi on August 25, with the participation of MOFA officials and ambassadors of ASEAN member nations together with their wives and family members.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung speaks at the ceremony. (Photo: vtv.vn)

In his opening remarks, Nguyen Quoc Dung, Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the Vietnam ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), highly appreciated the AWCH’s initiative and efforts to organise the ASEAN Family Day on the 51^st founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the third anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN Community.

The event offers an occasion for members of the ASEAN family to strengthen their mutual understanding and tighten solidarity and friendship, he said, stating that it will help to raise the awareness of the people, especially among younger generations, of the common identity of the ASEAN Community, while driving ASEAN’s efforts to be people-centred and for the people.

Delegates join in a friendship bike parade... (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Immediately after the opening ceremony, nearly 200 delegates joined in a friendship cycling parade from the headquarters of the MOFA, at No. 1 Ton That Dam Str, to the ministry’s office building at No. 2 Le Quang Dao Str. Cycling nearly 10km in hot and sunny weather, the delegates showed their collective strength, determination and mutual support, which is inherently a fine tradition of ASEAN member countries.

Many exciting activities were held afterwards, including musical and sporting exchanges, folk games and cuisine tasting, drawing active engagement from diplomats and their family members. A knowledge contest, entitled “Future ASEAN Ambassadors”, received an enthusiastic response from children, showing the dynamism and wish of ASEAN’s younger generations for a peaceful and prosperous ASEAN Community of innovative and sustainable development.

...and play folk games together. (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga, Honorary Chairwoman of AWCH, highlighted the significance of the ASEAN Family Day, which, she said, worked to develop close bonds between members of the ASEAN family and pay tribute to the contributions of previous generations that laid the groundwork for the ASEAN Community today.

The ambassador voiced her belief and encouraged the ASEAN younger generations to actively study, accumulate their knowledge and promote the spirit of solidarity, self-reliance and creativity in order to build a strong ASEAN Community in the future./.

VNF/NDO