Opening the ASEAN Festival
On July 13, in Hanoi, the ASEAN Festival opening ceremony was organized by Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with some other ministries and sectors. Attending the ceremony were Mr. Truong Minh Tuan, Minister of Information and Communications, Head of the National Steering Committee for ASEAN Propaganda, Mrs. Dao Hong Lan - Vice Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, representatives of MIC’s functional units, ambassadors, diplomatic representatives of 10 ASEAN countries and dialogue countries.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister Truong Minh Tuan affirmed that 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the formation and development of ASEAN. Over the past 50 years (1967-2017), ASEAN has experienced many stages of development, overcome many difficulties and challenges, step by step strengthened its cooperation. ASEAN is continuing to promote links on its three pillars: the Political-Security Community, the Economic Community and the Socio-Cultural Community, to further affirm its position of a successful regional organization.
The ASEAN Festival was an activitive among series of events celebrating its 50th anniversary to introduce the development and culture of member countries, Minister stressed.
At the ceremony, Mrs. Maria Cynthia P.Pe-La-Yo, senior ambassador of the Philippine Embassy in Vietnam, ASEAN 2017 Chairman, said that ASEAN theme this year was "Partnering for Change Engaging the World” reflecting ASEAN's idea on the unity of the 10 member states. She expressed the hope that the ASEAN Festival would be a driving force for closer cooperation among member countries when deploying cooperation on all three pillars of ASEAN: the Political-Security Community, the Economic Community and the Socio-Cultural Community.
At the ASEAN Festival, the Organizing Committee has combined various exhibits with a variety of expressions to introduce and promote the image of ASEAN. The exhibited works reflect a variety of themes, carefully selected through regional contests, of high artistic quality and reflective contents in a variety of forms: the formation and development of ASEAN in half a century; Postage stamps on the ASEAN Community; Photos of countries and peoples in ASEAN; Documentary films, documentary reports and cultural artifacts of ASEAN countries, etc.
The visitors will have an overview of the beauty of ASEAN countries, environmental protection and climate change, better understanding of the ASEAN Community with its three pillars; as well as the characteristics of member countries within a sharing and people-centered community.
The ASEAN Festival will last for 3 days from 13-15 July 2017 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi.