Doha, 16 Jan. 2023 (QT)

By ASHRAF SIDDIQUI

The Embassy of Vietnam in Qatar held Xuan Que Huong New Lunar Year celebrations on Saturday. A large number of Vietnamese expatriates, including families, students, friends and embassy officials, participated in the colorful event.

Ambassador of Vietnam to Qatar, Tran Duc Hung welcomed the guests and sent special new year wishes to the Vietnamese community in Qatar. In his address on the occasion, the Vietnamese envoy said that year 2022 has seen positive changes in furthering bilateral relations between Qatar and Vietnam with visits by Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu to Qatar in July 2022 and visit by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al Thani to Vietnam in August.

He said trade investment ties between both the countries resumed right after the end of the pandemic when a number of enterprises of the two countries actively
conducted market surveys and looked for opportunities to promote cooperation.

He added that tour operators also organise tourism promotion activities and about 2,000 Vietnamese tourists came to Qatar to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“Bilateral cooperation activities presented momentum for the ministries, agencies and businesses of the two countries to promote cooperation in the time to come,” he said.

Ambassador Tran Duc Hung said Vietnam and Qatar will celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in 2023. “The two countries plan to hold a number of activities to celebrate this event in Hanoi and Doha,” he said, inviting the community members to join hands with the embassy in promoting Vietnam-Qatar relations in the coming time.

He briefed his compatriots and the guests on the country’s achievements and various challenges, especially as a consequence of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and post pandemic situation.

The envoy thanked the Vietnamese leadership for its efforts which have resulted in successfully maintaining the political stability, economic growth and international integration.

He said Vietnam is one of the few countries with impressive growth of 8.02 percent, trade volume of up to 9.5 percent, reaching $732.5 billion and foreign direct
investment of $22.4 billion, while more than 3.6 million international tourists travelled to Vietnam.

Ambassador Tran Duc Hung highly appreciated the role of the community members and the Vietnamese companies in promoting Vietnam-Qatar relations. He said that a Vietnamese company participated in the steel structure of the iconic Lusail Stadium, which hosted FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final match.

He also appreciated some community members for opening Vietnamese restaurant in Doha to promote the country’s cuisines and culture in Qatar.

The ambassador said that though the population of Vietnamese in Qatar is moderate, he is proud to witness solidarity and mutual support with one heart towards
one another and their homeland.

Earlier, Ambassador Tran Duc Hung cut the ribbon to inaugurate the embassy’s Traditional Room to pay tribute to generations of officials and employees who worked at Vietnamese Embassy in Qatar, followed by serving the Vietnamese traditional cuisines to all the guests.