According to the City's Department of Culture and Sports, the pavilion at the world's largest publishing event served not merely as a book display but also as a “cultural ambassador”. It introduced the city's identity, dynamic lifestyle, and continuous development to the global publishing community and readers worldwide.
The joint presence of prominent organisations, including the Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, Tre Publishing House, Phuong Nam Book, and Comicola, created a lively and diverse picture of the publishing sector. The products on display covered a wide range of genres, from literature, history, culture, and cuisine to tourism, comic books, and modern, youthful creative works.
The highlight of this year's pavilion was a carefully curated selection of nearly 100 English-language and bilingual titles. These books served as an effective linguistic bridge, enabling Vietnamese works to reach publishers, international partners and readers across five continents directly, without language barriers.
Ho Chi Minh City's participation in the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair reaffirmed its proactive efforts to integrate internationally, promote reading culture, and advance the development of Viet Nam's cultural industries on the world stage.
With a community of more than 300,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Germany, traditional cultural values continue to serve as a source of spiritual connection.
To meet the need to preserve cultural identity, the Consulate General of Viet Nam in Frankfurt has worked with the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Frankfurt to organise Vietnamese language classes for children of second- and third-generation Vietnamese families. The programme not only helps the children preserve their mother tongue but also contributes to promoting the Vietnamese language and culture among international friends.
As part of its working visit to Germany, a Ho Chi Minh City delegation led by Nguyen Ngoc Hoi, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports and Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Publishers Association, held a working meeting with the Consulate General of Viet Nam in Germany, and put forward a number of practical proposals to strengthen cultural diplomacy.
Specifically, the delegation proposed that the consulate general support the inclusion of Vietnamese-language books in community libraries, while placing greater emphasis on book translation to promote Vietnamese culture more widely on the international stage.
In addition, Nguyen Ngoc Hoi proposed organising a Vietnamese Book Fair in Frankfurt in the near future, combining it with a range of cultural exchange activities and artistic performances linked to the promotion of cultural industries. In particular, the project to establish a Vietnamese Cultural Space in Frankfurt is expected to become a common home and welcoming cultural centre for the Vietnamese community, as well as a distinctive venue for cultural exchange in Germany.
These efforts not only strengthen solidarity within the Vietnamese community in Germany but also create opportunities for cultural exchange and bring the distinctive image of Viet Nam, its people, and its rich cultural identity closer to local audiences.
