Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association celebrates 40th anniversary

The event was attended by representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy, Vietnam's Permanent Mission to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other organisations in Geneva, the Vietnamese Association in Switzerland and the Vietnamese community in the country.

Addressing the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador Phung The Long reviewed the SVFA's contributions to the growth of ties between the two countries over the past four decades with many projects supporting the needy in Vietnam.

The diplomat pledged that the Vietnamese Embassy will always accompany the association to further foster the solidarity and mutual support between people of the two countries for peace and friendship among all nations in the world.

For her part, Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Vietnam's Permanent Mission to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other organisations in Geneva highlighted the association's contributions to connecting friendship, enhancing the image of Vietnamese culture and people in Switzerland, teaching Vietnamese language, promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, especially among the youngsters, and supporting the poor in difficult localities in Vietnam.

President of the SVFA Anjuska Weil underlined that over the course of its operation, the association has always pursued the motto of "exchange, information and understanding", which will be continued in the future.

Over the past 30 years, together with other organisations, the SVFA has worked to support the struggle for justice of Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims through many activities, she noted.

Particularly, a project to provide credit to the elderly has been carried out since 2005, benefiting more than 3,200 people, she said.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency on her visit to Vietnam in October with Anita Escher, Coordinator of the Medico International Switzerland, Weil said that she was impressed at the post-pandemic recovery of the Vietnamese economy. She said she hopes following the macro-economy, the income of poorer people in the society will also recover.

At the ceremony, a number of art performances were held, together with an auction of paintings by painter Nguyen Trung Son.