The Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco city, the US California State, held a get-together on February 15 to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet), the biggest annual festival of Vietnamese.

Addressing the event, Consul General Vuong Hai Nam affirmed that overseas Vietnamese are an indispensable part of the nation.

He said he looks forward to the organisation of many practical activities in 2015 when the two countries mark the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

On the occasion, US congresswoman Barbara Lee sent her greetings to the Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco and extended her New Year wishes to the Vietnamese people there.

Also on February 15, the Vietnamese in Germany’s Leipzig city and neighbouring localities gathered in Leipzig to greetTet as well as the 40^th anniversary of Viet Nam-German ties and the 1,000^th founding anniversary of Leipzig city.

Speaking at the event, Leipzig Mayor Uwe Albrecht said Viet Nam and Leipzig have enjoyed sound relations, which significantly contributed to the growing ties between the two countries.

He also thanked the Vietnamese community in Leipzig for their contributions to the city’s development.

Vietnamese Trade Counsellor Nguyen Thien Binh highly valued support that Leipzig government has given to the Vietnamese community over the past years.

Earlier on February 14, about 300 Vietnamese in Norway participated in a Tet meeting in Oslo.

Ambassador to Norway Le Thi Tuyet Mai spoke highly of the Vietnamese community’s strong engagement in fostering bilateral ties.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (RoK) Pham Huu Chi paid visits and presented gifts to Vietnamese-RoK families.

He praised the Vietnamese brides’ efforts in overcoming difficulties and integrating into the host country, as well as the support of the RoK families for them, saying all of these helped enhance the ties between Viet Nam and the RoK.