Present at the congress were Vu Xuan Hong, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, Renato Corsetti, Chairman of the Universal Esperanto Association, and Nguyen Van Loi, President of the Vietnam Esperanto Association.

Speaking at the congress, Mr Hong emphasised that during the struggle for national independence and construction, Vietnam gathered lofty ideas, international solidarity and valuable support from the Esperanto movement.

On his part, Mr Corsetti said that Esperanto will continue playing a bridge between peoples in the world. He hopes that Esperanto youths will find effective measures to use the international language in modern mass media to bring countries closer together. Esperanto is an effective means of communication and a language of friendship and solidarity.

During the congress, which will last until August 2, delegates will review work in the 2005-2007 term, elect a new executive board for the 2007-2009 term, and launch a number of activities, including a seminar on the Esperanto youth movement in Asia.