Ms Sophie Maysonnave, Counsellor for Cultural Cooperation and Activities at the French Embassy in Vietnam and Director of the French Institute in Vietnam, talked to VietnamPlus on activities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and France in 2023.

Reporter: What do you think about the importance of cultural exchanges in promoting diplomatic relations between Vietnam and France?

Ms Sophie Maysonnave:ꦆ I think culture is a key factor in the special relationship between France and Vietnam. In 2023, we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. There were activities held under the theme of "Shared Culture" because people-to-people exchange is contact between people and culture is an expression. Cultural cooperation is the key to promoting better diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Reporter: Vietnam and France have a long-lasting and special relationship. In your opinion, what factors in the history of relations between the two countries can we take advantage of as a foundation for developing cultural exchanges and cooperation?

Ms Sophie Maysonnave:🌱 The relationship between the two countries has a long history, with common heritage from architecture to other fields of art. This is the first basis for establishing diplomatic relations. Next, overseas Vietnamese in France and French people living in Vietnam are active participants in promoting culture, bringing the two countries closer together.

Currently, we can see many Vietnamese students studying in France, and more and more French students are coming to Vietnam to study. Similarly, artists from both countries also regularly participate in art programmes.

Reporter: 2023 is a very special year when events celebrating the 50^th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations have been held in both countries. So which event were you most impressed with?

Ms Sophie Maysonnave:꧅ That's a difficult question because, for me, all the events were so amazing. To answer your question, I would like to choose two events.

The first one was the Photo Hanoi'23 - International Photography Biennale. It’s an international photography festival that takes place every two years, gathering 20 photographers from around the world, attracting 5 million accesses on social networks worldwide, 170,000 visitors and 10,000 people attending seminars. You can imagine the positive impacts that the event will have on tourism. It’s a great project that I'm very proud of. After the Photo Hanoi’23 Biennale, the international photographers learned about Hanoi. We hope more artists will participate in this programme in 2025. Second, I want to mention the art project “Hue By Light” to honour the architectural heritage in Hue through music performances combined with light shows (3D mapping). The event will be held on December 12 as a grand closing ceremony for the year celebrating Vietnam-France diplomatic relations.

Reporter: The French Embassy's consistent view is to not only cooperate with relevant agencies in Vietnam to organise activities but also transfer technologies so that Vietnam can organise activities by itself. Can you please explain more about this mechanism?

Ms Sophie Maysonnave🌊: That's right! France is a country with a developed cultural industry. We have the Cannes Film Festival, Paris Fashion Week and other world-famous events. We are willing to transfer technologies and support Vietnamese partners to proactively organise events. A clear example is the Hue Festival which was initially initiated and organised by the French Embassy, but now the People's Committee of Thua Thien-Hue province can organise it, creating a highlight and brand for local tourism.

'Culture - foundation for building society'

Reporter: What do you think about the role of media, particularly VietnamPlus in promoting such events?

Ms Sophie Maysonnave🃏: As a regular reader of VietnamPlus, I am very impressed with the quality of articles about current events and cultural exchange activities. I think promoting cultural events is very necessary because readers are not only interested in environmental or economic issues. Culture is the foundation for building society. Therefore, I praise the role of the press agencies in promoting cultural events.

Reporter: What are your suggestions for us to improve the effectiveness of external information?

Ms Sophie Maysonnaveꦉ: I just learned that VietnamPlus has a series of articles on the France-Vietnam relations. I would like to congratulate you on your efforts and achievements.

I'm not a journalism expert, but to give advice, I think you will have a lot of material to "nurture" this stream of information. For example, the upcoming “Hue By Light” or the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, sports, culture, and Francophone events that will be held in France and Vietnam. Luckily we can share information on your platform. Arte (Arte.tv), a French general information channel in six languages, has many similarities with your VietnamPlus. Over the years, I have seen changes in this platform. Previously, young people were not interested much in Arte as it was quite serious, even when reporting on culture. Currently, Arte is a multimedia information channel that can be viewed on smartphones, using trendy music that appeals to young people. Therefore, my advice for you is to follow trends, and learn what young people are doing, from there, you will have information products that suit readers' tastes.

Reporter: Thank you very much./.