Various cultural activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Algeria

On April 13, 2022, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Director General of the Department of International Cooperation Nguyen Phuong Hoa received and worked with Mr. Boubazine Abdelhamid, Ambassador of Algeria to Vietnam.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed plans to organize activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Algeria (1962-2022).

Ambassador Boubazine Abdelhamid stressed that culture plays an important role in the traditional good friendship between the two peoples. In order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Embassy of Algeria in Vietnam plans to organize many cultural events this year such as: the week of Algerian culture in Vietnam, photo exhibitions, screenings of Algerian feature films and documentary films, shows of traditional Vietnamese and Algerian costumes, book exhibitions, seminars on Vietnamese-Algerian relations...

The Director General of the Department of International Cooperation shared the Ambassador's view on culture, seeing culture as the cement that binds people together and is the engine for promoting relations between the two peoples. Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa welcomed the Ambassador's plan to organize cultural activities, considering it a specific activity of practical importance to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Algeria and declared that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is ready to cooperate and support the Embassy of Algeria in organizing these projects.

On this occasion, the two parties discussed the project of representation on the Vietnamese stage of the poetic drama "The man with rubber sandals" by the famous Algerian writer Kateb Yacine (1929-1989) whose publication in Vietnamese was published and presented to Vietnamese readers in 2011. Kateb Yacine arrived in Vietnam in 1967 and lived there for three years. He read a lot of references to start building this piece. This work was originally published in French in 1970, introducing readers to the history of Vietnam from the Hai Ba Trung uprising to 1969, especially the central figure who is President Ho Chi Minh. The play "The man with the rubber sandals" has been presented to many generations of spectators and foreign readers in Paris, Lyon, Cairo...

The two sides hope that through the play, the Vietnamese people, especially the young people, will better understand the admiration that the Algerian people have for the heroic exploits of the Vietnamese people in the anti-colonial, anti-imperialist wars as well as to the special affection of the Algerian people for President Ho Chi Minh. The Ambassador said that Algeria has two avenues honorably named “President Ho Chi Minh”.

The two sides felt that the staging and performance of the play "The Man in the Rubber Sandals" in Vietnam is a practical and meaningful initiative to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At the end of the working session, the Director of the Department of International Cooperation and the Ambassador of Algeria agreed to review the content of the Cultural Cooperation Agreement and to put it on the agenda of the 12th Joint Commission Meeting to be held in Hanoi scheduled for this year, it is a good opportunity to promote cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two countries, focusing on cultural activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Algeria.