A ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the movement of Overseas Vietnamese (OV) in France was held on June 15 at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, where President Ho Chi Minh held a meeting with 2,000 OVs in France on July 15, 1946 during his official visit to the country.

The exhibition on the patriotic movement of Overseas Vietnamese in France

Looking back at the formation and development of the OVs movement in France and the Association of Vietnamese People in France (AVPF), chairman of the association Ngo Kim Hung recalled that on June 18, 1919, young patriot Nguyen Ai Quoc (later Ho Chi Minh), on behalf of the Group of Annamite Patriots, sent a document with 8 requests to the Versailles Conference.

This event marked the start of the OVs movement in France which later resulted in the formation of patriotic organisations of Vietnamese in France, including the AVPF. 

Be in any forms and names, the OVs movement in France has always followed the consistent ideal of supporting the Vietnamese nation in the fight for independence and national unification, as well as in national construction and defence. 

After the re-unification of Vietnam, the AVPF was established in 1976 and has since continued to engage in activities supporting Vietnam. 

The AVPF chairman stressed that the 100th anniversary of the OVs movement in France is also an occasion to remember the credit of President Ho Chi Minh, who laid the first stone for the formation of organisations of the Vietnamese community in France, and set the spirit and orientation for the patriotic movement of Vietnamese in the European country. 

As Vietnam enters a new stage of development and international integration, the AVPF will continue to gather the OVs in activities supporting the homeland, while playing a bigger role in fostering the friendship between France and Vietnam, Hung said. 

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong praised the important contributions that the movement of OVs in France has made to the past resistance war for national liberation and the current national development of Vietnam.  

He expressed the belief that the patriotism of OVs in France will be passed down through generations. 

On the occasion, the AVPF introduced a book on the movement of OVs in France, and opened an exhibition on the movement.