According to the diplomat, introducing to international friends the image of a new Vietnam which is ready to integrate and cooperate, the friendly and open Vietnamese people, and especially the thousand-year-old culture of Vietnam, is extremely important. In addition, cultural diplomacy must also harmonize with other diplomatic activities such as political diplomacy, economic diplomacy, overseas Vietnamese affairs in order to create national synergy.

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Vietnam’s Dong Ho paintings introduced on Vietnam Day in Austria

Therefore, in the context of the changing world, cultural diplomacy activities should be creative and innovative to surprise foreigners who already know Vietnam to inspire them to continue to explore Vietnam to find what is new, and those who do not know much about the country to find Vietnam an interesting, worth visiting, and exploring destination.

Mr. Khanh said that while interacting with international friends, he has realized that to make them understand and love Vietnam’s culture, we must understand and love our culture first. We must introduce the beauty of our culture seriously and professionally and make it easy for the public to access it.

The changes in cultural diplomacy activities were seen clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diplomat Khanh recalled the Vietnam Day in Switzerland in 2021 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties and 30 years of development cooperation relations between Vietnam and Switzerland. At that time, COVID-19 broke out and Vietnam and Switzerland applied lock-downs. The solution was to hold it in the online format. Elements such as quarantine in Hanoi and techniques in Switzerland were considered. After many discussions, contacts, they made a decision to cooperate with Channel 4 of the Vietnam Television to connect Hanoi, Bern, and Geneva.

Another difficulty was a difference in time zones and lunchtime was selected. However, it was very delicate because international friends have clear time for work and break. “We suddenly thought why we would not take advantage of that lunchtime to introduce Vietnamese Pho in a very gentle and natural way. So we adjusted the script to let chef Vu Dino introduce how to make Vietnamese Pho at home instead of at a restaurant right in his apartment in Vietnam,” the official said.

He went on when Vu Dino finished his performance, it was just lunchtime and Vietnamese people in Bern and Geneva served invited guests with Pho. After listening, watching, and then tasting Vietnamese Pho at lunchtime, international friends were very excited.

After the event, an international friend told the organizing panel that he and other people used to have two misunderstandings about Vietnamese Pho. Firstly, they once thought Pho was only for breakfast and then they knew that they can enjoy Pho at any time of the day. Secondly, Pho was served only in restaurants, but the fact is that every family can make their own Pho. “It was a happy memory because we turned a challenge into added value to Pho,” Khanh stressed.

He also recalled the Vietnam Day in Austria in 2022. According to the diplomat, Austria established official relations with Vietnam in 1972 when Vietnam was still facing difficulties. “Friends in difficult times are precious,” Khanh emphasized. Therefore, the 50th anniversary of the Vietnamese relations with Austria was of great political significance and it was an opportunity to show Vietnam's willingness to promote trade-economic relations on par with political relations. “We chose culture to convey that message,” Khanh said.

To lay an impression on the Austrian people who are not easy to be pleased in culture enjoyment and help them fully absorb Vietnamese culture, creative and more interesting approaches had to be found. They decided to use chamber music at the official celebration. At that time, some were worried about that because Austria is the No.1 country in symphony in the world. Vietnamese artists found it pressure but the organizers decided to take the challenge.

Efforts were paid off. It was the first time the national anthem of Vietnam was played at the Mozart Hall in the Vienna Konzerthaus under in opera style and it was also the first time artists of the Symphony Orchestra of the Vietnam National Academy of Music confidently played several Vietnamese musical works for Austrian and international audience.

Mr. Khanh shared that after the performance, some Vietnamese audience told us that they felt proud when the national anthem was played in opera style and many international friends said they further understood the development and position of Vietnam. 

“Witnessing the most important guest of the ceremony at that time - the Secretary General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry passionately listening to Vietnamese music with a relaxed expression and enjoying Austrian works, we feel no longer exhausted,” the official of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Asked what we have gained from cultural diplomacy activities, diplomat Khanh said that more and more overseas Vietnamese want to learn the mother tongue.

He said that via cultural events held abroad, they found out an interesting fact that overseas Vietnamese community members are very enthusiastic participants. “They were excited and considered it a festival, an opportunity to meet each other. Many Vietnamese born abroad do not know much about Vietnamese culture. They are easily influenced by incorrect and incomplete information about Vietnamese culture. After being engaged in a number of cultural diplomacy activities, many young people said that they did not expect Vietnamese culture to be so interesting. Culture helps them better understand their origin. Many said that they will return to Vietnam to visit or carry out social activities. Thus, culture helps further connect Vietnamese community with the Fatherland, helping them to feel that they are really part of Vietnam,” he emphasized.

The diplomat said that there are families with thinking that their children do not need to know Vietnamese. After coming to the Vietnamese cultural space, it is the young people who realize that Vietnamese culture has many interesting things and since then they want to learn Vietnamese.

Translated by Mai Huong