OIF leader visits Institute of Cultural Exchange with France

Secretary-General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo (left) and Director of the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) in a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Ngoc Lan on March 23. (Photo: VNA )

Welcoming Mushikiwabo, IDECAF Director Nguyen Ngoc Lan said, founded 40 years ago, the institute has been acting as a bridge to bring French culture and language closer to HCM City’s citizens and introduce Vietnamese culture to the Francophone community and foreign expats in the city.

Through its “French-speaking Job and Internship Space,” IDECAF has played a part in developing a French-speaking workforce and connecting French learning students with the network of enterprises from the Francophone countries like France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada in HCM City and southern provinces.

It also serves as an advisory body for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the municipal People’s Committee on diplomacy and cultural policies, she said. The director hopes to receive further support from the OIF in the coming time, for example, enabling IDECAF to join more activities of OIF-operated French-speaking cultural centers around the globe.

The OIF Secretary-General, for her part, highly spoke of the diversity of activities hosted by IDECAF to promote the French language and the Francophone community among local people, particularly the youth.

Mushikiwabo also congratulated IDECAF on its achievements over the past four decades, saying a model like IDECAF must be multiplied in other French-speaking countries. She displays to provide all possible conditions for IDECAF to heighten its role within the OIF.

On the previous day, the OIF leader attended a Francophone business forum in HCM City and paid a courtesy call to the city’s leaders.