Contributing to the overall achievements of foreign affairs in 2024, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations continues to promote its core role, contributing to strengthening solidarity, friendship and cooperation with people of other countries, friends and international partners.
In the context of the world experiencing many new challenges, competition and risks in 2024, people-to-people diplomacy still recorded many important steps forward, continuing to create a positive social foundation for Vietnam's bilateral relations with other countries, as well as enhancing the position and role of Vietnamese people's organisations in regional and international multilateral people's cooperation mechanisms.
Implementing the orientation of "strongly innovating thinking, approaches, methods of organisation, and content of people's diplomacy activities", the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations has contributed to building a positive and favourable social foundation for Vietnam's relations with the peoples of other countries.
In 2024, with the coordination of ministries, branches, localities, and the unity and solidarity of the entire system, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations successfully organised more than 1,000 foreign affairs activities, along with many international conferences and seminars. Notably, the Union's participation in high-level foreign affairs activities of Party and State leaders; coordinating and chairing the organisation of many activities in which Party and State leaders meet with friends and people of other countries, while leaders of other countries meet with the Vietnamese people.
People-to-people foreign affairs activities within the framework of high-level foreign affairs not only demonstrate the importance of Party and State leaders to people-to-people foreign affairs in general, but also demonstrate the respect of the Party, State and people of Vietnam for the affection, solidarity, support and assistance of people of other countries for Vietnam.
In order to focus on diversifying people-to-people diplomacy activities to enhance traditional education on friendly relations between Vietnam and other countries, the Union coordinates with embassies, diplomatic representative agencies in Vietnam, and foreign partners to organise many activities to share information about other countries, about diplomatic relations between Vietnam and other countries, book introductions by foreign authors about Vietnam, and cultural and artistic exchange activities.
The unit has taken advantage of people-to-people diplomacy activities to connect investment cooperation between Vietnamese enterprises and enterprises of other countries, through activities to share information with foreign investors about Vietnam's policies.
The Union chaired and coordinated the reception of many people-to-people diplomatic delegations led by leaders and former leaders of countries, leaders of political parties, leaders of ministries and branches of countries visiting and working in Vietnam, especially the reception of the Lao Committee for Peace and Solidarity led by the Vice President of the Lao National Assembly and the China International Exchange Association led by the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of China.
On the multilateral front, people-to-people diplomacy has also left a prominent mark, as the Union and its member organisations have actively participated and responsibly contributed to activities within the framework of traditional multilateral mechanisms and forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN, the World Peace Council, the Japan peace movement, the Global Esperanto movement, and the World Social Forum. Such efforts are not only contributing to protecting national-ethnic interests, especially in issues of democracy-human rights and sovereignty over seas and islands, but also contributing to the world people's movement for peace and sustainable development.
Along with traditional foreign affairs activities, the expansion of the partnership network of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations in 2024 has achieved many positive results, building a wide, prestigious and diverse partnership network in the regions, thus creating a solid foundation for sustainable and effective cooperation.
The encouraging results of socio-political organisations, including the Union, not only contribute to the country's socio-economic development goals but also help enhance Vietnam's international position, affirming the important role of people-to-people diplomacy in the era of global integration and development.
