Vietnam’s culture and cuisine were introduced to an international audience at the Asian Culture and Culinary Festival held in Kiev, Ukraine on November 8.

The event, the first of its kind, was organised on the initiative of embassies from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Pakistan with a view to presenting the cultural variety of Asia to the Ukrainian people.

Traditional Vietnamese fan dancing at the festival. Photo: vov.vn

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Malaysian Ambassador to the Ukraine Chuan Teong Ban highlighted Asia’s outstanding cultural wealth.

He added that the event would be held annually to boost Ukrainian-Asian relations and cooperation on the economy, trade, tourism and investment.

The total amount of revenue generated by the festival will be donated to needy Ukrainian, he announced.

The event attracted a large crowd, including Overseas Vietnamese from Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa, despite temperatures below freezing.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine will host the second Asian culture and culinary festival in 2015 as well as a number of ASEAN activities, Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Minh Tri told Vietnam News Agency reporters.

Source: VNA