The annual contest was launched by Le Courrier du Vietnam (CVN), a French language newspaper of theVietnam News Agency (VNA), under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office (RBAP) of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF); the Francophone University Agency (AUF); the embassies of France, Morocco, Romania, Switzerland and Canada; the Wallonie-Bruxelles Delegation to Vietnam; France Institute in Vietnam, and University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH).
After a month since its launch, this year’s competition received 118 works from 174 contestants. The 20 best entries were published at lecourrier.vn for readers to vote. There were one first, one second, one third, and two consolation prizes and other awards based on readers’ votes, the contestants’ impressions, and talent, among others.
The first prize was given to Nguyen Duc Minh Hoang, a contestant from the central province of Thua Thien-Hue for his work about a female incense maker who founded a fund to support poor disadvantaged patients.
Speaking at the event, VNA Deputy General Director Doan Thi Tuyet Nhung said that the contest helps inspire and spread the love for the French language among young people.
It is also one of the effective external information services that affirm the role of the CVN in particular and the VNA in general, Nhung said.
Edgar Doerig, Regional Representative of the OIF for Asia-Pacific (REPAP), said that the theme of this year's contest: "Francophone and sharing culture" is closely related to the theme of the International Day of La Francophonie celebrations in 2023 - “321 million French speakers, billions of cultural content”, which highlights the cultural diversity within the Francophone community, with 88 member countries on all the five continents.
He said Vietnam, with its rich culture, rich cuisine, thousand-year-old language and traditions, makes an important contribution to the outstanding diversity of the Francophone space, which has been shown in the contest’s entries./.
VNA