A video meeting was held on May 19 by the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Russia’s Saint Petersburg administration and the Embassy of Vietnam in Russia to mark President Ho Chi Minh’s 130th birthday (May 19).

Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan speaks at the event.
(Photo: VNA) 

The event also aimed to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his opening remarks, Governor of Saint Petersburg Beglov Alexander recalled the visit of President Ho Chi Minh to Petrograd (Saint Petersburg today) in 1923, marking a new milestone in Vietnam’s struggle for independence. Events paying tribute to the Vietnamese national hero have been organised in the city on May 19 every year since 2018, he said.

He expressed his pride for Saint Petersburg to play a crucial part in the Vietnam-Russia relations that have been built on the long-standing friendship and mutual assistance, saying the ties between Saint Petersburg and HCM City are growing strongly in the fields of economy, education, tourism and youth cooperation.

Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan, for his part, said learning from Marxism-Leninism and October Revolution and with the help of the former Soviet Union (Russia today), Nguyen Ai Quoc, an alias of President Ho Chi Minh, had found the way to free Vietnamese people from the feudal regime and French colonists, win the resistance war against the US and reunite the country.

He affirmed that Vietnamese leaders and people always remembered Russia’s support for the country’s struggle for independence and national reconstruction.

Vietnam wants to lift the friendship and bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia to a new height, he said, adding that HCM City and its people will do their utmost to strengthen ties with Saint Petersburg to contribute to the two countries’ relations.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh and Russian Consul General in HCM City Aleksey Popov also delivered remarks highlighting the role of President Ho Chi Minh in nurturing the bilateral relationship as well as directions for the bilateral ties to expand further in the future.