Vietnamese communities celebrate Tet with vibrant events in Japan, UK
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu underscored the significance of the Tet celebration, which helped the overseas Vietnamese (OVs) to reconnect with their roots and honour the nation’s cultural values.
A performance at the first-ever Vietnamese Tet festival in Omiya city, Saitama prefecture of Japan (Photo: VNA)
Tokyo (VNA) – The Vietnamese communities in Japan’s Saitama prefecture and the UK’s London marked the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday with celebrations that bridge cultur♛al distances and preserve traditional heritage.
The first-ever Vietnamese Tet festival in Omiya city, Saitama, unfolded on January 25-26, providing an opportunity for Japanese friends to enjoy Vietnam’s traditional culture and cuisine.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu underscored the significance of the event, which helped the overseas Vietnamese (OVs) to reconnect with their roots and honour the nation’s cultural values.
He laid stress on the flourishing Vietnam – Japan relations over the recent past, with exchanges and cooperation between their localities being a highlight and a pillar of bilateral ties. Saitama is one of the Japanese localities hosting the largest number of Vietnamese people, more than 40,000, who have made positive contributions to the economic development and cultural diversity in the prefecture.
The festival featured various cultural performances like an Ao dai fashion show, folk music, and lion dances. Culinary stalls offered such delicacies as banh chung (sticky rice cake), pho, and banh mi.
A dancing performance at the celebration of the Lunar New Year in London (Photo: VNA)
In London, more than 200 Vietnamese expatriates gathered for a Tet celebration hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.
Ambassador Do Minh Hung hailed the community’s efforts to preserve the homeland's cultural identity, affirming that the Party and State always view OVs as an inseparable part of the nation and have worked to complete policies for them, creating a foundation to consolidate the great national solidarity bloc while helping the OVs have a stable legal status and contribute to the homeland.
He also shared updates about Vietnam’s socio-economic progress, noting the country’s impressive economic growth of over 7% last year and its ranking among the world’s top 35 economies.
The diplomat briefed the community on the robust development of the Vietnam – UK relations in the past year, particularly in the areas of trade – investment, education – training, and defence – security. He attributed such achievements partly to the OVs in the UK, expressing his hope that they will continue preserving the traditional cultural values as well as contributing to the host nation and the homeland.
The London event featured musical performances by Vietnamese students, a festive atmosphere, and a lottery drawing with prizes including Tet delicacies and flight tickets to Vietnam./.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam emphasised that the achievements Vietnam has gained in its past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in the current national construction, protection and renewal cause are partly thanks to immense, invaluable, and heartfelt support and assistance from the Party, State, and people of Laos.
Tet celebrations reflect the strong bond among Vietnamese people worldwide and their deep connection to their homeland during the Lunar New Year festivities.
The Vietnamese embassies in Singapore and Brunei and the Nguyen Du Lao-Vietnamese bilingual language school in Vientiane, Laos have organised activities for Vietnamese there to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.
Running until June 21, the festival brings together more than 80 central and local media organisations, featuring nearly 130 exhibition booths that cover the full spectrum of national life, encompassing economy, politics, culture, society, defence, security, and foreign affairs.
As of June 17, Ca Mau province had achieved its target of supporting the construction and renovation of 4,400 homes, with a total budget of over 235 billion VND (about 9 million USD).
Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) Le Quoc Minh has called for technology to be leveraged not to replace identity, but to enhance it—allowing Vietnamese journalism to reach both local and global audiences.
In recent years, with strong support from the Party and State, and building on its tradition as a heroic news agency, the VNA has not only actively participated in OANA but also proactively proposed various ideas for cooperation, helping shape a fresh image of effective media collaboration in the digital era, said VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang.
The education sector has been one of the foundations playing a vital role in deepening Vietnam – New Zealand ties, said Prof. Damon Salesa, Vice-Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Tien Giang province has addressed the housing needs of 608 poor, near-poor, and policy-beneficiary families facing housing difficulties. Of these, 370 houses were newly constructed while 238 underwent major renovations.
Dr Pham Minh Hung from the University of Economics and Business under Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said the fixed-term contract mechanism is a correct step, liberating the entire system from traditional constraints which have long stood in the way of innovation.
The partnership will focus on studying and recommending LRT routes that connect the city’s transport network with urban development zones, industrial parks, and TOD areas. The research will cover Thu Dau Mot city and surrounding areas, with completion scheduled before August 15, 2025.
Media must not only serve as a channel for information but also act as a vanguard in shaping public opinion, combating misinformation, upholding the Party’s ideological principles, and reinforcing unity between Vietnam and Laos.
In Vietnam, the voluntary blood donation movement was first launched on January 24, 1994. In 2008, the Prime Minister established the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation.
Currently, 20 Vietnamese citizens remain in Iran, including embassy staff and personnel. All are safe, mentally stable, and in regular contact with the embassy.
A VietnamPlus survey of 764 young people shows that 83.9% of Gen Z use smartphones to read news, only 12% use computers, and the rest access content via tablets.
GVB Startup 2025 attracted the participation of nearly 150 individuals and organisations from across Vietnam. The event seeks to promote bold and ambitious startup ideas and projects, contributing to the future of global innovation, and supporting startups through the provision of resources, networking opportunities, and market insights.
AI could not replace human judgment in verifying information and sensitive political events, and that humans remain the final gatekeepers of content, said Leonid Kovachich, head of the Asian department at Sputnik's international broadcasting division.
A veteran journalist of Argentina has praised the modern evolution of Vietnam’s press, which now serves a dual purpose: introducing Vietnam to the world while bringing global perspectives to domestic audiences.
The court announced that Quyet had submitted a written request to be tried in absentia, citing serious health issues. According to an official statement from Hospital 19/8, the defendant is suffering from multiple illnesses, experiencing fatigue and shortness of breath, with doctors warning of a “very high risk of death.”
A senior Party official highlighted the VNA’s consistent role over the past eight decades, noting that it remains a mainstream, uninterrupted, timely, accurate, and authoritative source of news that helps shape public opinion, strengthen public trust, and safeguard the ideological foundation of the Party.
Dr. Kobelev, born in 1938 in Ulyanovsk, was among the first Soviet scholars to specialise in Vietnam. As a former TASS correspondent during the war in Vietnam, he worked closely with Vietnamese institutions and later helped found Russia’s Centre for Vietnamese and ASEAN Studies.
