The workshop focused on the great significance of Uncle Ho’s trip as well as the revolutionary cause of the nation and its influence on world revolutionary movements.

Delivering his opening remarks at the event, Prof. Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration said that President Ho Chi Minh was a pre-eminent symbol of the whole nation’s determination in the struggle for national liberation.

One hundred years ago, on June 5, 1911, a patriotic young man called Nguyen Tat Thanh (later Nguyen Ai Quoc or President Ho Chi Minh) left Nha Rong harbour in Saigon on board the French ship “Admiral Latouche Treville” to seek ways to save the nation.

With his will, intelligence and talent, President Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnamese revolutionary movement to follow the orbit of a proletarian revolution. He set up the Communist Party of Vietnam and prepared necessary conditions for the country to win back freedom and national independence.

Under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese people successfully implemented the August Revolution in 1945, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and opening up a new era in Vietnamese history: the era of national independence and socialism.

Nearly 60 reports presented at the workshop highlighted Nguyen Tat Thanh’s historical journey in the first years of the 20^th century.

Also on May 17, an exhibition displaying nearly 100 valuable photos on the life and career of Uncle Ho opened in Hanoi

Around 50 book titles on Ho Chi Minh thoughts and stories on Uncle Ho are also on display at the exhibition, which will last until June 10, as one of the activities to mark the 121^st birthday of President Ho Chi Minh.

In the meantime, a ceremony was held in Nam Dan district, in the central Nghe An province, the native land of President Ho Chi Minh, on May 17 to mark his birthday and open Lang Sen Festival 2011, which is an art festival held annually since 1981 in commemoration of the nation’s beloved leader.