The banquet was attended by a number of diplomats in New York, including ambassadors and chargés d’affaires of all missions of the member and observer countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Vietnamese National Assembly delegation attending a joint Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) - UN hearing, and the ASEAN Chair’s special envoy Myanmar.
Highlighting the importance of Tet in the traditional culture of Vietnam and many Asian countries, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, expressed his hope that in the Year of the Dragon 2024, member states of the UN, especially the ASEAN Committee in New York, will continue strengthening cooperation and solidarity and jointly seek solutions to global challenges, thus contributing a world of peace, stability, and sustainable development.
At the event, the ambassador, his spouse, and staff members of the Vietnamese mission prepared and offered the country’s traditional and typical Tet dishes to the guests.
On December 22, 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday. The resolution says this is a holiday in many member states and also encourages UN agencies not to hold meetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The recognition came as a result of the campaigning coordination at the UN. Vietnam was one of the 12 countries submitting the joint proposal on this regard to UN leaders in August 2023 and also actively campaigned for the recognition.
