Alain Dussarps, Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV) (centre), poses with two ethnic minority women in Cao Bang. (Photo: lecourrier.vn)

A ceremony was held by the Embassy of Vietnam in France to present a Friendship Order from the Vietnamese President to Alain Dussarps, Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV), on November 9.

The honour was awarded to Dussarps in recognition of his active contributions to Vietnam’s construction and development and to strengthening the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

In his remarks at the event, Dussarps recalled unforgettable memories about Vietnam, saying he and his friends started raising fund and donations for Vietnamese people when he was an electrical engineer at French electricity group EDF. He came to Vietnam in 1986 to work for a project on the installation of electrical system in vaccine laboratories of Ho Chi Minh City’s Pasteur Institute.

From 1998 to 2018, the AAFV President had raised fund for nearly 500 projects across Vietnam, worth around 4,500 EUR each in average, according to statistics from the AAFV. These projects involved in constructing dozens of kindergartens and primary classrooms, drilling hundreds of wells, improving rural sanitation and hygiene, providing assistance to families hit by natural disasters and accelerating HIV/AIDS prevention and control in the country.

Vietnamese Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang praised the French activist's contributions to many effective activities and projects that benefited Vietnamese people, particularly ethnic minorities and Agent Orange/Dioxin victims.

The diplomat also highly spoke of efforts made by the AAFV and the France – Vietnam association for cultural and technical cooperation (ACOTEC) of which Dussarps is a member, to deepen the friendship and multifaceted partnership between the two nations./.

Source: VNA