Contest about Thang Long-Hanoi launched in Laos

A contest on knowledge about the heroic, thousand-year old city of Thang Long-Hanoi was launched in Vientiane on November 4.

Speaking at the ceremony, Hanoi Moi newspaper editor-in-chief Ho Quang Loi laid stress on the national scale of the contest which is expected to conclude in October, 2010 in coincide with the 1000-year anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The contest, which is first being launched outside Vietnam , will motivate participants to learn more about the history of the ancient city of Thang Long , now Hanoi , and about Vietnam ’s people, Loi said.

The contest will also be a chance for Vietnamese at home and abroad to express their patriotism for their fatherland, he added.

According to editor-in-chief Loi, the deployment of the contest in Laos is an important event, contributing to increasing the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos .

Also on November 4, representatives from Hanoi Moi newspaper and New Vientiane newspaper signed a Memorandum of Understanding which focuses on increasing bilateral cooperation between the two newspapers through the exchange of visits, personnel training and the provision of equipment and technology.

The two sides also agreed to work together to promote the millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the 450-year history of Vientiane through their newspapers for the sake of increasing public awareness in each country on the other’s land and people./.