TEHRAN- The Vietnamese Embassy in Tehran celebrated the 79th Anniversary of the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in a ceremony at the place of the embassy on Thursday evening.

The ceremony was attended by several senior officials and diplomats from Iran and Vietnam as well as other countries.

Mohammad Hassan Sheikhol Eslami, Iran’s deputy minister of foreign affairs and president of the Institute for Pollical and International studies, was among the Iranian officials present in the event, who also delivered a speech.

The ceremony was officially started by the speech of Vietnamese Ambassador Luong Quoc Huy. The following is the text of his speech.

"79 years ago, on September 2nd 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, announcing to the people and the world about the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at present. Firmly following the path chosen by the Vietnamese Communist Party and President Ho Chi Minh, Hero of National Liberation, World’s Cultural Celebrity, for the past 79 years, the Party, the State and the People of Vietnam have incessantly fought to defend the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, the right to self-determination and the right to pursue freedom and happiness of the people with the motto “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”.

After 38 years of Doi Moi, open-door policy and integration, overcoming various difficulties and challenges, Vietnam has gained many significant, historic achievements in all fields. The scale and potential of the economy have rapidly increased. From a poor and underdeveloped country, Vietnam has become a middle-income, developing country with GDP per capita reaching over 4300 USD and is one of the biggest exporters of rice, coffee, tea, seafood, footwear and electronics in the world. Recently, in the context of the complicated developments, unstable global economy, conflicts at some hot spots on the verge of escalating, under the leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Vietnam continues to maintain stability and development. In the first 6 months of 2024, Vietnam’s GDP recorded a growth rate of 6.43%. Macroeconomy remains stable, inflation is under control, major balances are ensured. Import turnover continues to rise 17.1%, with the trade surplus reaching 14,07 billion USD in the 7 months of this year. FDI attracted into Vietnam in the first 7 months of 2024 reached over 18 billion USD, registering a 10.9% increase over the same period. The number of international visitors to Vietnam in the past 7 months reached over 8 million, showing a 58.4% rise. Many international organizations express their optimisim about Vietnam’s economic growth. ADB has forecasted Vietnam’s growth rate of 6% and 6.2%, in 2024 and 2025 respectively; while HSBC has raised its forecast for Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2024 to 6.5%, the highest in the Southeast Asia region and also predicted that Vietnam will exceed its forecasts and objectives set forth by the Government. Having these impressive achievements are partly thanks to the valuable support and assistance as well as the effective cooperation from international friends over the years, including the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Vietnam and Iran have always maintained a good traditional friendship, honored and nurtured by the two countries’ leaders through various eras. Vietnam does not forget the affection and precious support from Iran. The two countries also celebrated 50 years of diplomatic establishment last year with a lot of meaningful activities. Over the years, Vietnam-Iran have regularly supported each other at international organizations, forums on a reciprocal basis. Economically, the two countries have great potentials for development; the economies of the two sides are complementary to each other. Therefore, I believe that the Vietnam-Iran relations will certainly have new developments, increasingly on par with each side’s strengths and potentials, serving the interests of the two countries, for peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world. I would also like to express my wish to continue coordinating and cooperating closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies of Iran to promote the implementation of the bilateral agreements in order to promote the Vietnam-Iran cooperation relations to stride for new advancements."

‘Iranian, Vietnamese leaders always determined on expansion of ties’

Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Hassan Sheikhol Eslami was the next speaker in the ceremony, how emphasized that the leaders of the two countries have always highlighted their determination on expansion of relations.

The following is some parts of his speech.

“Now, over 50 years has passed since Iran and Vietnam established diplomatic relations. During past half a century, all bilateral ties have proceeded based on factors such as respect, friendship, expansion of relations in political, economic and cultural areas, as well as mutual cooperation at international arenas.

Reviewing history indicates that although Iran and Vietnam commenced diplomatic relations since 1973, and the two countries opened embassies in 1990 and in 1998 in Hanoi and Tehran, respectively, establishment of relation between the two nations dates back to several centuries ago that is the 15th century, when the first Iranian merchants traveled to Vietnam.

The two countries have adopted a similar approach towards many issues related to regional and global peace, providing support for each other in the regional and international organizations.

During the past 50 years, the leaders of the two countries have always highlighted their determination on expansion of relations, the realization of which has been showing through the visits made by five leaders, namely visit paid by two Iranian presidents and ons speaker of parliament to Vietnam and the visit made to Iran by former speaker of parliament and president of Vietnam only during the past ten years.

I hope that Iran-Vietnam relations will be improved to the higher levels of cooperation and solidarity in the coming year.”

Photo: Vietnamese Ambassador Luong Quoc Huy speaks in Vietnam’s National Day celebration in Tehran on August 29.