Vietnamese, French archives offices ink co-operation deal

The State Records Management and Archives Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs, and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication’s Directorate of Archives, signed a cooperation agreement on January 20.

Under the agreement, the two offices will exchange information and experiences in managing archives, especially in collecting, preserving and restoring the documents, and training officials in the field.

They pledged to provide each other with information on archive collections relating to their history and the two countries’ relationship, intensify the exchange of copies of documents in conformity with each country’s laws, and coordinate in publishing documents related to bilateral relations and in organising joint exhibitions.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Trieu Van Cuong expressed his hope that the two sides would maintain comprehensive and effective co-operation in the archives field, so as to improve the work.

According to the head of the Vietnamese department, Dang Thanh Tung, the offices have seen effective collaboration over the years, through the exchange of delegations, information and experiences.

The French Government also granted short-term scholarships to a number of Vietnamese archivists, while the French Embassy in Hanoi supported the department in publishing guide-books on archives preserved at the department and at national archive centres.