According to Dung, the Vietnam-France cultural exchange year will last through early 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and mark the development of their bilateral cooperation. It is also a significant event which will open up opportunities to expand relationships between the two nations to various fields.

At the opening ceremony, President of the Korea-Vietnam Friendship Association (KOVIFA) Choi Young-joo emphasized that the RoK and Vietnam share many historical and cultural similarities and have made joint efforts to develop prosperous nations and happy people in a peaceful, friendly and cooperative environment.

A statue of late President Ho Chi Minh has been inaugurated in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Present at the ceremony on August 30 were representatives of the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Argentina-Vietnam Cultural Institute, diplomatic corps and Vietnamese friends.

A cultural, sports and tourism exchange programme between Vietnamese and Lao border provinces will take place from August 16 in Vietnam’s central provinces of Nghe An, Quang Binh and Ha Tinh and Laos’ Xiengkhoang, Bolykhamsay and Khammouan provinces.

The Obama Administration's State Department hasn't been an especially strong advocate for human rights, as the recent mishandling of Chinese dissident's Chen Guangcheng's case made painfully clear. Now there's news of more fumbles—this time, in Vietnam.

Hoi An City will host the annual Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange on August 24-26, the local culture and sport centre said yesterday. The event will mark the 39th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Viet Nam and Japan (1973-2012) and lead up to their Year of Friendship in 2013.

The action film Ranh Gioi Trang Den (Boundary of Black and White), which marks the first co-operation between the Vietnamese and Indonesian film industries, will hit screens on July 6.

More recently, with the resurgence of China as a global power, Vietnam has been subject to a Chinese “charm offensive,” as the country seeks to spread its soft power. Since the early 1990s, Vietnam has been engulfed in a Chinese “cultural tsunami” brought about by the overwhelming success of Chinese historical television series, music, movies and kung-fu novels.