Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Hoang (fifth right) with community members and guests on the celebration of Vietnamese Lunar New Year at his residence yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
The Vietnamese community in Qatar yesterday celebrated the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet), considered the biggest and most important festival in Vietnam.
During the event held at the Ambassador’s residence, the community listened to the best wishes of New Year from the President of Vietnam and enjoy Tet party sharing Vietnamese food traditionally prepared during the festivities such as the bánh chng cake.
Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Hoang highlighted the good relations that exist between Vietnam and Qatar marked by exchange of high level visits in recent years.
“Qatar-Vietnam bilateral relations have grown considerably over the years and was particularly significant with key developments in various fields,” the Ambassador observed.
Last year, Vietnam and Qatar held the second Meeting of the Qatari-Vietnamese Joint Committee for economic, trade and technical cooperation. At the meeting, the two countries discussed and agreed on expanding bilateral relations in all fields including political, diplomatic, trade, investment, finance and banking, among others, he said.
He said bilateral trade between Vietnam and Qatar has increased in recent years though the growth rate is not high. Vietnam’s imports from Qatar include liquefied petroleum gas, fertilizers and petrochemicals while Vietnam’s main exports to Qatar are fishery products, ceramics, mobile phones, electronics, textiles and household appliances.
The Qatar National Bank (QNB) has opened a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City with the objective of promoting trade between the two countries.
There are around 2,000 Vietnamese in Qatar and the Ambassador expressed hope that more Vietnamese unskilled workers would be part of the construction boom in Qatar. Besides, Vietnamese construction companies are studying the local market for potential joint ventures with their Qatari counterparts, he said.
The Ambassador urged his compatriots to respect the Qatari law and traditions. “All Vietnamese fellow citizens residing in Qatar are advised to respect the law and tradition of the host country, to contribute in further strengthening Vietnam- Qatar friendly relations. We are confident that the bilateral relations between the two countries will continue to develop in the future,” he said.
