The event was held on the occasion of a visit to Porto by a Ho Chi Minh City delegation headed by the city’s Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc.
In his opening speech, Duc highlighted Ho Chi Minh City as a convergence of many cultures and expressed his wish to introduce its characteristics to Portuguese friends through exhibitions of culture, people and the socio-economic achievements of the city and the wider country.
He noted that the festival also aims to take bilateral ties to a new stage of development, adding that he wants to hold similar events in other localities of Portugal.
For his part, Porto Mayor Rui Moreira expressed his belief that the festival will not only help strengthen cooperation between Porto and Vietnam, but is also intended to help the two sides develop new synergy in the fields of cooperation with great potential.
He stressed that the two sides should seize on this opportunity to deepen their bilateral ties and promote the development of the two countries, which have 500 years of relations.
Also on July 28, an economic cooperation forum between Ho Chi Minh City and Porto was held with the attendance of over 100 enterprises from Ho Chi Minh City, Porto and European countries.
As part of the Vietnam-Ho Chi Minh City Festival, there will be various art programmes with performance of Vietnamese and Portuguese artists from now until July 30.
