The 11^th Francophone Summit opened in Bucharest, Romania on September 28, drawing the  participation of 57 heads of state and ministers from French-speaking countries.

The Vietnamese delegation is headed by State Vice President Truong My Hoa.

The event provides a good opportunity for member countries to further strengthen relations of cooperation and friendship towards the stable development and prosperity of the French-speaking community and other nations in the world.

The conference, themed "Information technology in Education", will focus on issues relating to IT-fuelled educational development.

For many years, Francophone countries have always attached great importance to promoting links and cooperation in politics, economics, culture and education. This goal was clearly demonstrated at the second Francophone Summit as they agreed to carry out a cooperative programme including 100 projects worth 450 million Franc aimed at supporting developing countries. Also at this conference and at many later conferences, Canada, France and other developed member countries decided to clear debts for poor member countries.

Apart from promoting cooperation in various fields, the 11^th Francophone Summit also aims to present political images of member countries with a focus of discussion on the agenda’s burning issues such as immigration, conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, humanitarian disaster in Dafur, instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo or re-construction of Lebanon. These issues which have impacts on member countries can not be resolved overnight.

So to speak,  the conference is regarded as a bridge for concerned parties to meet and find a common voice in order to address regional and international issues.

Established on the initiative of Senegalese President Leopon Senggo, the first Francophone Summit was held in France in 1986, with the participation of nearly 40 heads of state. The conference marked the birth of a prestigious political and cultural community in the International arena. Since the first conference with 10 times of sitting, the French-speaking community has made significant progress in development and cooperation process, reflecting their unanimous view on pursuing a common goal as well as enhancing the use of French in the future. The organisation of the 11 Francophone Summit in Romania- the first European nation after France following the admission of Greece and Andorra and the acceptance of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Armenia as observers at the 10^th Francophone Summit held in 2004, shows the constant development of member nations and governments in the community.

As a member of the Francophone community, Vietnam has always played its active role in boosting cooperation and friendship with other member countries. Since the seventh successful Francophone Summit in Hanoi, relations between Vietnam and other member countries in the community have taken new steps of development. The signing of new cooperative projects and programmes in the areas of education, training and science and the opening of the Francophone Office in the Asia-Pacific region indicates a new level of development in relationship between Vietnam and  the Francophone community.

Minister of Cooperation, Development and Francophone Affairs Brigitte Girardin said, “France and Vietnam have maintained time-honoured cooperation in many fields such as history, culture and politics. Therefore, Vietnam is a member of the Francophone Community. At the Francophone Summit in Bucharest, we want to further boost our relations with other member countries including Vietnam, particularly in French teaching and training. We hope that this conference will help further strengthen friendship and cooperation among member countries for a developed and prosperous Francophone community.“