(Vietnam News Agency) - "The Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association was established at its first congress held in Hanoi on July 18. The congress elected a 39-member executive board for the 2007-2012 term, with Vu Van Hien, Director General of radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) as President,.

The event was attended, among other, by Vu Xuan Hong, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) and Jorge Rondón Uzcátegui, Ambassador of Venezuela in Vietnam.

The newly-established association immediately launched a series of friendship activities with the aim of strengthening and developing friendly ties and multifaceted co-operation between the two countries.

VUFO president Hong welcomed the Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association, the 55th member of the VUFO. He said he hoped that the association would operate fruitfully, thus increasing the country's people-to-people diplomacy and boosting the two countries' relations.

Ambassador Jorge Rondón Uzcátegui believed that the Association will constitute a sustainable bridge between the two people. He expressed his solidarity with the Vietnamese, especially victims of Agent Orange and natural calamities".