Hoi An, Germany's Wernigerode celebrate 10th anniversary of friendship

ABO/NDO- Activities were held in Wernigerode town, Germany, from August 24-27 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the friendship and twinning relationship between the city and Hoi An city in the central province of Quang Nam, Vietnam.

On the occasion, the two cities held an inauguration ceremony for the Hoi An Garden at the Miniaturen Park ‘Kleiner Harz’ in Wernigerode.

Chairman of the Hoi An People's Committee Nguyen Van Son said at the event that the two localities have many similarities as Hoi An is a world cultural heritage recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) while Wernigerode boasts many ancient architectural works. Both cities attract large numbers of tourists.

Son highlighted that cooperation activities between Hoi An and Wernigerode over the past ten years have helped strengthen connection and people-to-people exchanges between the two cities and the two countries.

He emphasised that the two cities will continue to implement the commitments made in the past time to further tighten the friendship between Vietnam and Germany.

A view of the celebration (Photo: VNA).

For his part, Mayor of Wernigerode Tobias Kascha said in addition to boosting understanding between the two nations people, especially those from the two cities, they have carried out projects that generated positive results, such as a German-funded solar power project installed in Hoi An, a cultural centre built in Hoi An and a vocational training project.

According to the mayor, leaders of Hoi An and Wernigerode agreed on certain points in their upcoming cooperation plan. Specifically, the two sides will continue to implement a vocational training project for students from Hoi An to Wernigerode. Wernigerode authorities will support Hoi An to build an "eco-road" so that Hoi An people can feel the atmosphere like in Wernigerode. Finally, they will promote the tourism development project in Hoi An through the issuance of a tourism quality certificate.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Vu Quang Minh said that Hoi An and Wernigerode are the two first cities of Germany and Vietnam to get a twinning relationship.

The relationship was made at the same time Vietnam and Germany set a strategic partnership. Therefore, the two cities’ twinning relationship has become a model for cooperation between cities and localities of the two countries, according to the diplomat.

(Source: NDO)