The move is part of the Russian Federation’s National Awards Ceremony, held at the Smolny Palace in Saint Petersburg on November 11.
Nguyen Quoc Hung was the only foreign national to receive the award. Although an individual honour, it reflects the high appreciation of the Saint Petersburg Committee for External Relations and the city authorities for the efforts of the “Tradition and Friendship” Fund and the Vietnamese community in Russia towards promoting people-to-people diplomacy and mutually beneficial cooperation between Saint Petersburg and localities across Viet Nam.
Speaking with Nhan Dan Newspaper’s correspondent in Russia after the ceremony, Hung expressed his deep honour and emotion at receiving such a prestigious city award in the Smolny Palace.
He recalled witnessing the smiles of ethnic minority children from the remote mountain province of Dien Bien during their study visit to Saint Petersburg, and the joy of Russian students visiting Dien Bien, walking hand in hand with Vietnamese children and discovering new lands and new friendships.
He also shared his moving impression of the “spark of hope” in the eyes of Vietnamese cancer patients in Ha Noi who received consultations from Russian doctors as part of the first Viet Nam–Russia People’s Diplomacy Forum.
Assessing the current partnership between Saint Petersburg and Viet Nam — especially with Ho Chi Minh City, its sister city — Hung affirmed that Governor Beglov’s decision to make Viet Nam a priority direction in the city’s foreign policy has created a breakthrough in relations with Vietnamese localities.
The Committee for External Relations of Saint Petersburg has actively fostered cooperation through key initiatives and numerous projects filled with events, conferences, forums, and high-level exchanges between leaders, enterprises, and social organisations. These efforts have produced meaningful results across political, economic, and social spheres.
Saint Petersburg has also expanded its network of sister cities. In addition to Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, and Hai Phong, Ha Noi and Dien Bien Province have recently become new partner localities.
In Saint Petersburg, the square where the Ho Chi Minh Monument stands has been named Ho Chi Minh Square, while in Dien Bien Province, a street has been designated Leningrad–Saint Petersburg Street, symbolising the enduring friendship.
From September 30 to October 3, Saint Petersburg and the “Tradition and Friendship” Fund, in cooperation with the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Viet Nam–Russia Friendship Association, successfully organised the First Viet Nam–Russia People’s Diplomacy Forum in Ha Noi.
The event featured rich and diverse content spanning science, education, health, economy, trade, culture, and local cooperation. With numerous new initiatives and practical activities, the forum injected fresh momentum into bilateral cooperation, meeting the new demands of the times.
It can be said that the partnership between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese localities has become an exemplary model of sub-national cooperation between the two countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Alexander Beglov reaffirmed the importance of strengthening ties with Viet Nam, a nation with which Saint Petersburg shares a long-standing friendship.
Regarding future cooperation, Nguyen Quoc Hung emphasised that Viet Nam is now deeply integrated into international capital markets and global value chains, with its overall economic capacity expanding rapidly. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation remains a major industrial, scientific, and technological power and a vast and stable consumer market.
