Tazeen Akhtar
Ambassador of Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Pakistan H.E Nguyen Tien Phong has completed his tenure of service in Islamabad. He will leave for his new assignment in few days. Ambassador, his spouse and the staff and their spouses hosted the friends of Vietnam at the residence on 25 June to say them good buy.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Phong spent eventful years in Islamabad. He not only promoted the bilateral cooperation in trade and economic sectors but enhanced the knowledge of the Pakistani citizens about Vietnam. He also encouraged people to people contacts and contributed a lot in bridging the gaps between two nations. Many cultural and sports events were also organized by him.
Ambassador arranged a Golf tournament on the occasion of Dien Bien Phu Victory, 30 April Re-unification day of Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It was an Invitation Golf Tournament on 04 May 2024 by the Embassy of Vietnam in collaboration with Garden City and Bahria Town. Renown golfers from Pakistan and diplomatic community of Islamabad participated in the tournament.
On 05 June 2024 screening of award winning movie ” Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass ” was held by the Ambassador. A large number of guest from diplomatic community and Pakistani society watched the movie. Vietnamese food was always part of these activities that remained an attraction for the guests.
At the end of April and in the start of May 2024, Ambassador shared with the media , the history of Dien Bien Phu Victory, 30 April Re-unification day and Geneva Agreement 1954. He also arranged the publication of the articles of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on the above mentioned subjects.
In April, H.E. Nguyen Tien Phong, delivered the keynote address on ‘Envisioning Comprehensive Pakistan-Vietnam Cooperation: Prospects and Opportunities’ organized by the NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS), a leading think-tank of NUST, based in Islamabad.
On March 29, in the Ramazan in Pakistan, Ambassador and staff with the enthusiastic participation of the families and kids arranged a special event at the embassy in connection with Muslim tradition of hosting Iftar for the poor.
In Nov 2023, a workshop on “Improving capacity to handle trade disputes, removing bottlenecks, expanding opportunities for Vietnam -Pakistan economic, trade and investment cooperation” was hosted by the Ambassador in which he shared that mutual trade would reach $1 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24. He said the bilateral trade could be increased further, but trade disputes should be resolved within a certain period of time.
These are few latest examples among innumerable activities done by the Ambassador in Islamabad that not only increased the level of bilateral relations and information but paved the way to further tap it in the future.
At the farewell event, the composition of the guests was notable as well as appreciative in a sense that it was expressing the cornerstone of Vietnam foreign policy that is good relations with all countries. First it was important to see three deans of diplomatic corp under one roof of the embassy of Vietnam.
1- Dean of Diplomatic Corp , Ambassador Turkmenistan H.E Atadjan Movlamov, 2- Dean of African Countries, Ambassador of Morocco H.E Mohamed Karmoune, 3- Chair of ASEAN Committee Islamabad,Pg Kamal Bashah Pg Ahmad, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam with former Chair Ambassador of Philippine H.E Maria Agnes M. Cervantes, Ambassador of Malaysia Mohammad Azhar Mazlan and the diplomats from other ASEAN countries.
Ambassador of Nepal H.E Tapas Adhikari , High Commissioner of Mauritius H.E Rashid Ali Soobadar, Ambassador of Japan H.E Wada Mitsuhiro, Ambassador of Poland H.E Maciej Pisarski, Ambassador Belgium H.E Charles Delogne who himself is leaving, Ambassador of Turkiye H.E Dr. Mehmet Pacaci also graced the event and bid farewell to their colleague with their best wishes.
From Pakistan,Ambassador of Pakistan to Vietnam H.E Samina Mehtab, former ambassadors of Pakistan to Vietnam have always been in the guest list of the Vietnam embassy. They were also present. Among them Tariq Osman Haydar was prominent as the first ambassador to Vietnam.
Ambassador Phong, in his welcome address spoke highly about his stay in Pakistan and the support he enjoyed from the foreign office, government and civil society of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan is just like the second homeland for him. He cherished his memories and shared his pleasant interactions in different sectors of Pakistan.
Ambassador presented Letters of Appreciation to the friends of Vietnam for their contribution in highlighting Pakistan Vietnam Relations/ Cooperation Prospects / Potential of Vietnam alone as well as in ASEAN – Asia and in the World.
Finally, Ambassador Phong is leaving to report to his next assignment but his memories will remain with us. He is great friend of Pakistan and we are sure he will continue his supportive role for Pakistan where ever he is posted in the future.
Here it is also worth noting that Pakistan attaches great importance to her relations with Vietnam. This is a country that has unique history among the comity of the nations. It was war torn till 80s but it is emerging economy now in the world.
In short , Vietnam is the only country in the World that has hosted the heads of all 3 super powers of the time, 1- President Biden (Sep 2023) 2-President Xi Jinping (Dec 2023)and latest 3- President Putin (June 2024)at Hanoi in less than one year between Sep 2023 to June 2024.
It speaks a lot about how important country Vietnam is. Pakistan fortunately enjoys close and cordial relations with Vietnam. The Ambassadors from both sides like Samina Mehtab and Nguyen Tien Phong have served their countries very well to take off with a solid basis to the destination of height of cooperation in all spheres.
Pakistani Ambassador: Pakistan, Vietnam are important trade and economic partners
