76 places and structures around the world bearing the mark of President Ho Chi Minh
Up to now, outside of Vietnam, there are 76 places and constructions around the world bearing the mark of President Ho Chi Minh.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have just jointly held a conference to review three years of implementing activities to honor President Ho Chi Minh abroad.
On August 19, 2020, the Secretariat issued Conclusion 85 on continuing to strengthen propaganda, introduction, and honoring President Ho Chi Minh, National Liberation Hero, World Cultural Celebrity, to the international community.
Over the past time, Conclusion 85 has become a guideline for propaganda, introduction and promotion activities widely in the international community about the life, career, ideology, morality and style of President Ho Chi Minh.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc said that activities to honor Uncle Ho continue to be implemented practically and effectively through a network of nearly 100 Vietnamese representative agencies abroad.
The forms of honoring are diverse and rich, with more emphasis on promoting the meaning and value of Uncle Ho's statues, memorial sites, schools, streets, avenues, parks, etc. named after him.
Many activities honoring President Ho Chi Minh stem from the love and sincere affection of governments and people around the world, demonstrating respect for President Ho Chi Minh's noble ideology and personality and the widespread recognition of the international community.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc cited that in September and October last year, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay attended and spoke at both rallies celebrating the 35th anniversary of UNESCO's Resolution honoring Uncle Ho at the Ho Chi Minh Museum (Hanoi) and UNESCO Headquarters (Paris, France). The event in France was co-sponsored by UNESCO.
Ms. Audrey Azoulay personally expressed her honor to attend the celebration and emphasized that: “His influence still extends far beyond the country's borders… The best way to commemorate Ho Chi Minh's humanistic legacy is to continue to cooperate to protect education, culture and heritage as common values of humanity”.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that this continues to affirm the recognition of UNESCO - an important specialized organization of the United Nations - for the great contributions of President Ho Chi Minh to Vietnam and the world.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, in his speech at the National Cultural Conference (November 2021), affirmed: "Our beloved President Ho Chi Minh is not only a genius leader, a great teacher of the Vietnamese Revolution, an outstanding soldier of the international communist and workers' movement, but also an outstanding cultural figure, awarded the glorious title of World Cultural Celebrity by the world."
Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc said that the effective implementation of Conclusion 85 will contribute to consolidating and promoting the great pride of the entire Vietnamese people.
Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO Hoang Huu Anh said that over the past 3 years, the implementation of Conclusion 85 has been smooth, comprehensive, and tight despite the Covid-19 pandemic making travel and exchange difficult.
At 94 Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad, on every occasion such as his birthday, National Day, Tet holiday..., President Ho Chi Minh is introduced and honored. Mr. Hoang Huu Anh cited that the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand is coordinating with the Royal University of Thailand to launch a book about President Ho Chi Minh when he worked in Thailand. This book was written by an author in Dong Nai, published in 2009, the authorities tried to find the author to request the copyright to publish in Thai. This book will be published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal University of Thailand.
In the past 3 years, there have been 5 more projects, including 2 statues, 1 park in Cuba, 1 memorial in Kunming (China), and 1 new memorial stele. In addition, 13 more avenues and schools have been named after him. So far, there are 76 places and projects in the world bearing his mark.
From this evidence, we can see that Vietnamese diplomatic agencies have been very proactive, creative, comprehensive, and diverse in their forms of honoring Uncle Ho abroad while still ensuring solemnity, dignity, and respect.
The Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO emphasized that honoring President Ho Chi Minh to the international community is a major focus in cultural diplomacy. “Perhaps there is nothing more effective than introducing the country and people of Vietnam through a great man, a typical Vietnamese person that the world knows well and loves…”.