The ASEAN Festival 2017 was held in Vancouver in Canada’s western British Columbia province, featuring the traditional cultures and foods of the ASEAN countries, including Vietnam.
The festival was held
annually by five ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand and Vietnam. This year, the festival was also jointly organised by the
Institute for Asia Studies under the University of British Columbia.
At the ASEAN Festival
2016 in Vancouver. (Photo
for illustration)
Opening the event,
Thailand’s General Consul Sutthiluck Sa-ngarmangkang reviewed the 50 years of
ASEAN’s development from a five-member association to a community with combined
GDP of 2.4 trillion USD and population of 629 million people.
She said that ASEAN is
rising to the sixth largest economy in the world and the third in Asia as well
as the third biggest market in the globe.
ASEAN is not only an
important partner of Canada in the Asia-Pacific region, but also its dialogue
partner with strengthened ties after 40 years, said Sa-ngarmangkang.
Vietnamese Consul General
in Vancouver Pham Manh Hai said that the event helps connect ASEAN cultures and
ASEAN and Canada to foster friendship.
Canadian Senator Yuen Pau
Woo stated that Canada has paid great attention to strengthening partnership
with ASEAN. He expressed his hope that major commemoration events in 2017 will
be good opportunities for the two sides to bolster their cooperation in various
fields from economy, politics to culture and social affairs.
Participants enjoyed dances and food as well as handicraft
products of the ASEAN countries and improved their understanding of the
nations’ diverse cultures.
Many countries are grappling with rapidly aging population. As population aging becomes an irreversible global trend with significant impacts on economic and social sectors, nations face the urgent task of creating flexible policies to adapt to and make the most of this trend to build prosperous and sustainable societies.
With a series of stimulus measures, the world tourism industry is on the way to recovery as before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Facing the opportunity to take off, the "smokeless industry” is expected to strongly contribute to global economic growth while promoting potential and cohesion, contributing to peace and sustainable development.
The danger from the COVID-19 pandemic is still latent, threatening people’s health and lives in the context that the immunity provided from the COVID-19 vaccine has decreased. Many other dangerous diseases are also likely to break out when the global vaccination rate slows down, due to inequality in access to health services, vaccine hesitancy, and consequences of economic recession.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is witnessing a rise in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB Research).
The respect paying ceremony for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong continued on the morning of July 26 at the National Funeral Hall in Hanoi, with high-level delegations from foreign countries and international organisations paying their last respects and expressing deep condolences.
A wave of condolences have poured in from world leaders, international organisations, rulling parties, Communist parties and partner parties following the death of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
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