At a reception for his countrymen in Kunming, President Triet said he was delighted by the stable life of overseas Vietnamese. The President stressed that preserving friendly relations between Vietnam and China is of great significance to the cause of national construction and development in both countries. Therefore, overseas Vietnamese in China in general and in Kunming in particularly should contribute to consolidating and developing the fine relations.

He asked Vietnamese people in Kunming to continue to unite, teach Vietnamese to their descendants and contribute to the homeland.

Currently, around 500 overseas Vietnamese are living in Kunming, many of them still holding Vietnamese citizenship.

Speaking at the Vietnam-Yunnan Business Forum, President Triet highlighted the development of trade and economic relations between Vietnam and Yunnan province in line with the two countries’ common desire to bring their two-way trade turnover to US$15 billion by 2010.

The President affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam will create the most favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises and Yunnan province to do business for mutual benefit in an effort to tighten the relations of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and China.

Late in the morning, President Nguyen Minh Triet and his wife, together with the delegation, left Kunming city of Yunnan province for Beijing, continuing his official visit to China.