National Day of Vietnam

TODAY is the National Day of Vietnam which commemorates Ho Chi Minh’s proclamation of the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, the country’s capital, in 1945.

Located in the easternmost part of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is bordered to the north by China, to the northwest by Laos, and to the southwest by Cambodia. To the east is South China Sea. Hanoi is the country’s capital with a population of around 90 million.

Relations between the Philippines and Vietnam have been warm and cordial. The Vietnamese government opened its Embassy in Manila in 1976, and a year later, the Philippine government opened its Embassy in Hanoi. Since then, there have been frequent exchanges of visits by top officials.

On January 29-30, 2015, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh visited the Philippines upon the invitation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario. The two officials co-chaired the 1st Philippines-Vietnam Joint Commission on concluding a Strategic Partnership in Manila. During the Joint Commission meeting, the Philippines and Vietnam discussed the establishment of a Strategic Partnership and its elements in order to strengthen the level and intensity of bilateral exchanges. The two countries also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.

We congratulate the government and people of Vietnam led by President Truong Tan Sang, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on the occasion of its 70th National Day.