Hanoi (VNA) - Despite nearly 7,000km separating Azerbaijan and Vietnam, thetwo countries share several cultural similarities, said experts at a recent conferenceentitled The Parallels of Azerbaijani and Vietnamese Cultures.

The annual conference, now in itsthird year, was held on April 28 by the Azerbaijani History and Culture ResearchCentre in Vietnam, and the Azerbaijan Embassy.

Most of the Vietnamese expertstaking part in the event studied in Azerbaijan and have beautiful memories ofthe country.

“Wehave been holding this conference already three years in a row, however thisyear it is particularly meaningful, because, this year, we celebrate the 25thanniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Despite establishing diplomatic relations between the two countriesin 1992, friendship relations between Azerbaijani and Vietnamese people have along-standing history and most of the attendees of this event are thewitnesses of these relations,” said Anar Imanov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan toVietnam at the conference. 

“TodayAzerbaijan and Vietnam have left behind many difficulties, overcame themsuccessfully and both have become leading countries in their regions. Bothcountries promote their culture and traditions not only in the national level,but also internationally,” he added.

This year, the conference focused mostly on similarities between the two countries in music and folk dancing.

Le Anh Tuan,director of the Vietnam Academy of Music said that the two countries have veryrich and diverse folk music with various traditional music instruments.

Azerbaijani musicis the musical tradition of the Azeri people. It builds on folk traditions thatreach back nearly 1,000 years.

“The folk music ofthe two countries is rich in meaning and human values. It’s very important thatthe two countries promote music exchanges,” Tuan said.

People’s Artist UngDuy Thinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Dancing Artist Association, also saidthat he found similarities in the folk dances of the two countries.

He discoveredseveral ancient dances that are similar in the two countries.

“For example, thecollective performance of the Yallidance in Azerbaizan is very similar to the xoe vong dance of the Thaiethnic group in northwest Vietnam. They both originated from the peasants’working daily life and are performed with the joy of a community,” he said.

Participants at the conference saidthat even though the two countries were not large, they had thousands of yearsof history, and were resilient during wars against foreign invaders.

Multiculturalism, for bothcountries, has been the way to peace and stability.

The two countriesset up close relations in 1959 when President Ho Chi Minh visited Azerbaijan.The President wanted oil-savvy Azerbaijan to help Vietnam train cadres in thissector.

Diplomaticrelations between Azerbaijan and Vietnam were established on September 23, 1992.Azerbaijan opened its embassy in Vietnam in 2013. - VNA