Delegates attending the press conference - Photo: QUANG DINH
Press conference to announce Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Seoul, Korea directly at Majestic Hotel (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) and online at the headquarters of the Vietnam Business Association in Seoul, Korea, with the participation of Vietnamese and Korean media, international guests...
Cuisine and cultural diplomacy
Mr. Dao Quyen Truong - Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; member of the Secretariat, Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO - said that cultural diplomacy is one of the tasks that countries are strongly implementing, especially in the context of conflicts taking place in the world.
In Vietnam, the Government also affirms that cuisine is a tool that we are focusing on and aiming for in cultural diplomacy, specifically here is pho.
Mr. Dao Quyen Truong - Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; member of the Secretariat, Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO - Photo: QUANG DINH
Over the years, Tuoi Tre newspaper and Saigontourist have done very well and now we are bringing our culture to the outside world, in which pho is just a tool, a bridge.
Behind the activities of Vietnam Pho Festival are business connection activities, an opportunity to deepen economic cooperation.
"What we also deeply appreciate is cultural exchange, increasing cultural understanding between two peoples and two countries," Mr. Dao Quyen Truong emphasized.
Therefore, the stories spread from the Vietnam Pho Festival event are related to cuisine, health, energy, and also show the intelligence and cultural depth of the two countries.
Regarding the story of how to make Vietnamese pho a world intangible cultural heritage, Mr. Truong said that the first step is for pho to become a national intangible cultural heritage, then there will be conditions to submit the dossier internationally.
Currently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and some localities such as Hanoi, Nam Dinh... have also started to build the first phase for this journey.
"Although the road is still long because Vietnam currently has about 4 national intangible cultural heritages waiting to be recognized. But with the international response, we believe pho will soon be recognized," Mr. Dao Quyen Truong shared.
Vietnam Pho Festival is an important event
Answering reporters' questions at the press conference about how the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 will promote culture and promote cultural exchange between Vietnam and Korea, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung - Counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea, answered from the Korean side that this is a very meaningful and important event to promote Vietnamese culture, especially pho culture for Koreans and Vietnamese people in Korea.
According to Mr. Dung, there are currently about 300,000 Vietnamese people living in Korea. In addition, there are also many Koreans who understand Vietnam and many have feelings for Vietnam.
Korea also has many Vietnamese pho restaurants, however these are individual operations.
This Vietnam Pho Festival is an important event, making a very meaningful contribution to promoting Vietnamese culture to Koreans as well as the international community in Korea.
The press conference received attention from the Korean press. Seoul News Agency reporters asked about how Korean businesses could participate, expressing that Korean rice cake (tteokbokki) businesses also wanted to participate in this culinary exchange event... Mr. Tran Xuan Toan - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee, Head of the Organizing Committee of Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 - emphasized that in addition to promoting cuisine, the festival also wants to promote the economy, promote trade exchanges between industries such as spices, rice... between Vietnam and Korea - Photo: QUANG DINH
Saigontourist Group confidently introduces Vietnamese cuisine
Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat - Sales and Marketing Director of Saigon Tourist Group, General Director of Saigon Exhibition and Convention Joint Venture Company (SECC), Deputy Head of the Steering Committee, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of Vietnam Pho Festival - shared at the press conference:
In addition to its co-organizing role, Saigontourist Group will participate in Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 with 5 member units, which are famous culinary brands of the group, from four high-class hotels, including Majestic Saigon, Grand Saigon, Caravelle Saigon, Saigon - Morin (Hue) and the brand Pho restaurant Golf Thu Duc.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat - Sales and Marketing Director of Saigon Tourist Corporation (Saigontourist Group), General Director of Saigon Exhibition & Convention Joint Venture Company (SECC), Deputy Head of Steering Committee, Deputy Head of Organizing Committee of Vietnam Pho Festival - Photo: QUANG DINH
In addition to the main flavor of pho, the units also selectively introduce delicious Vietnamese dishes, suitable for the taste of international diners, combined with performances and introductions of Hue royal cuisine.
"We participated in the booth and 20 chefs introduced 20 different pho dishes such as beef pho, spicy crab pho...
In addition, we will introduce some Vietnamese dishes suitable for international guests such as banh xeo, goi cuon, and Saigon bread. These are authentic Vietnamese dishes, helping international visitors have the opportunity to enjoy the true taste of Vietnam," Mr. Dat shared.
According to Mr. Dat, with 49 years of business experience, Saigontourist Group currently manages over 100 hotels, resorts, restaurants, travel agencies, entertainment areas, tourism training schools..., has a lot of experience in organizing international-scale culinary cultural events, which have been successfully implemented in countries around the world.
The most typical event is the "Culinary Culture Festival - Saigontourist Group's Delicious Dishes", the event voted by the World Culinary Awards as "Asia's Most Outstanding Culinary Festival 2022", "Asia's Most Outstanding Culinary Festival 2023", "World's Most Outstanding Culinary Festival 2023", and is being nominated for the award "World's Most Outstanding Culinary Festival 2024"...
Saigontourist representative shared that in addition to introducing dishes and having chefs perform dishes for tourists, the unit will also invite a number of culinary artists to present and perform special Vietnamese dishes to introduce to Koreans and overseas Vietnamese in Korea.
In response to the press's question about transporting raw materials for Vietnamese dishes and goods, Mr. Dat said that for countries with similar raw materials to cook Vietnamese dishes, they will not be transported.
However, there are typical Vietnamese ingredients, hotels and restaurants will personally select the freshest, highest quality ingredients to take away.
Ho Chi Minh City continues to accompany Vietnam Pho Festival
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade - Photo: QUANG DINH
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City - informed that last year the unit coordinated and participated in the Vietnam Pho Festival event held in Japan.
With such initial experience, this year the department continues to accompany Tuoi Tre to participate in the event in Korea.
As an advisory body for Ho Chi Minh City, the industry and trade sector aims for further goals in trade and agricultural product branding.
Accordingly, the city chooses to develop 4 key areas, including food.
This time, Ho Chi Minh City assigned the task of building agricultural product brands to the department, because the city has everything but tourists who want to buy a typical agricultural product of the city do not have it.
Therefore, building a brand for Ho Chi Minh City agricultural products is very necessary, especially Can Gio bird's nest products.
According to Mr. Phuong, Vietnam is one of the top 4 countries producing bird's nest, but we have not yet built a brand. Meanwhile, Korea is one of many countries that have ginseng, but they are very successful with this brand.
Therefore, promoting trade during the Pho Day event is an opportunity for businesses producing bird's nest, ginseng, and other domestic agricultural products to learn to connect and build products that go further and spread more widely.
Wishing to highlight the common culinary and cultural exchange between Vietnam and Korea
At the press conference, Mr. Vo Hung Thuat - Director of Tuoi Tre Newspaper Media Service Center, representative of the organizing committee - introduced the highlights of the series of events at Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea.
Mr. Thuat emphasized that through pho, the Vietnam Pho Festival event wants to promote and boost cultural exchange, diplomacy, and economic activities between the two countries.
Journalist Vo Hung Thuat, director of Tuoi Tre Newspaper's Media Service Center, shares highlights of the series of events at the Vietnam Pho Festival in Korea - Photo: QUANG DINH
The Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 program will be organized with a strict scale and form.
In addition to the main festival at Yeouido Park, in Seoul, South Korea on October 5 and 6, 2024, this year's program kicked off in July, opening with a pho discovery activity in Korea for YouTubers and pho lovers.
The event is held to highlight the culinary and cultural exchanges between the two countries. It will be followed by a pho writing contest for Koreans.
The main event, Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Yeouido Park, is a culinary exchange activity based on pho, with at least 40 pho booths from pho brands in Vietnam and Korea, along with other booths introducing Vietnamese cuisine, especially royal cuisine. The space for enjoying pho is also arranged by the organizers to be spacious and comfortable.
Along with that, exhibition activities and folk games take place throughout the festival, helping people learn about the history, origin, ingredients, and correlation between pho and other industries such as tourism and Vietnamese agriculture.
In addition, with the desire to promote economy and trade, Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 also has trade promotion events on the sidelines such as meetings at booths, through associations and Business Matching events for businesses of the two countries.
The quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to the world
Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Chairman of Saigontourist Group, co-head of the steering committee for organizing Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea - said that the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 event is the result of cooperation between Saigontourist Group and Tuoi Tre newspaper, with the aim of introducing the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine, especially pho - a dish that has conquered the taste of diners around the world, to international friends, especially Korean people and overseas Vietnamese in Korea.
According to Mr. Binh, South Korea is currently Vietnam's leading international tourist market, and is also a country with a large number of Vietnamese expatriates living and working.
Saigontourist Group is very proud to contribute to promoting the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to the world, thereby creating a highlight to attract more Korean tourists to Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam.
Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Tourist Corporation (Saigontourist Group) - informed about the special content that the unit will bring to the festival in Korea - Photo: QUANG DINH
"When they learned that we were preparing to organize this program, our partners, which are leading Korean tourism and aviation corporations, expressed their interest and appreciation for the event, considering it one of the solutions to enhance cultural and tourism exchanges and attract more Korean visitors to Vietnam in the near future," Mr. Pham Huy Binh shared.
However, the representative of Saigontourist Group also recognized that the success of Vietnam Pho Festival 2023 in Japan is both a motivation and a challenge for both units when continuing to organize Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea.
Therefore, in participating in Korea this year, the unit has made better preparations, participating on a larger scale, with more attractive content and form.
Accordingly, Saigontourist Group will increase the number of participating member units from 3 to 5, which are the group's famous culinary brands, coming from four high-end hotels, including Majestic Saigon, Grand Saigon, Caravelle Saigon, Saigon - Morin (Hue) and the brand Pho Thu Duc Golf Restaurant.
In addition to the main flavor of pho, the units also selectively introduce delicious Vietnamese dishes, suitable for the taste of international diners, combined with performances and introductions of Hue royal cuisine.
One of the contents that contributes to creating a unique highlight for the activities of Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea is the demonstration of the secret technique of preparing Royal Salt Rice, the ancient "Royal Rice" dish, which since the reign of King Minh Mang has been ranked as a delicacy of Hue royal cuisine.
In particular, on this occasion, Saigontourist Travel Service Company (under Saigontourist Group) also launched a Korean tourism product, combined with attending the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Seoul, giving guests free coupons to enjoy pho or delicious Vietnamese dishes at the event.
Mr. Vu Ho, Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea, speaks at the bridge of the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea - Photo: QUANG DINH
Ambassador Vu Ho: Expectation that every 3km there will be a Vietnamese pho restaurant
From Seoul (South Korea), Ambassador Vu Ho - Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea - expressed his joy at accompanying Tuoi Tre newspaper and the units coordinating the organization of Vietnam Pho Festival.
Quoting the writer Nguyen Tuan when writing about the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine - pho, Ambassador Vu Ho reviewed the unique features of flavor, cooking method and the appeal of pho to Vietnamese diners from ancient times to the present day.
Ambassador Vu Ho assessed that pho is a dish that has permeated the cultural and social life of Vietnamese people and the promotion of pho is not only limited to Vietnam but also spread internationally, including Korea.
According to Ambassador Vu Ho, the Vietnam - Korea relationship has developed very well over the past 30 years. The two countries are comprehensive strategic partners, increasingly deeper and broader in all fields, especially economy and culture.
Citing the popularity of typical dishes in the US, Ambassador Vu Ho hopes that in Korea, pho will spread even more and hopes that every 3km there will be a Vietnamese pho restaurant, helping to promote pho to Korean life more deeply.
On behalf of the Vietnamese community in Korea, Ambassador Vu Ho expressed his hope and expectation that the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 will be held in Korea.
South Korea was chosen as the second destination.
Speaking at the press conference to announce the Pho Festival - Vietnam Pho Festival 2024, Mr. Le The Chu - editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper - expressed his feelings when meeting many colleagues interested in pho-related events after a year, since the Vietnam Pho Festival in Japan in 2023.
"I am extremely happy to announce to my colleagues and distinguished guests attending the press conference at the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea, Khoe Restaurant in Seoul, Korea and at the Majestic Hotel today that after 7 years of organization, Pho Day has become increasingly larger in scale, each year's scale is always larger than the previous year.
Last year, when we announced our trip to Japan to organize the Vietnam Pho Festival, we were very worried, as it was the first time we organized a festival to introduce Vietnamese culinary culture, expressed through pho," Mr. Chu emphasized.
Journalist Le The Chu - editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper - gave the opening speech - Photo: QUANG DINH
Mr. Chu recounted the happiness when more than 85,000 people came to the festival; then major newspapers, famous YouTubers, TikTokers in Japan...
From the spirit of promoting pho as a common thing for Vietnamese people, not just for one person; to the second step on the path of promoting Vietnamese culinary culture through pho abroad, which is the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea.
Therefore, Korea was chosen as the second destination on the way to introduce pho to the world.
Athlete Anh Vien and Russian YouTuber Sumo met before the press conference - Photo: QUANG DINH
Sharing the reason for choosing the land of kimchi to organize, Mr. Chu said: "The two countries Vietnam and Korea are increasingly closely connected in many aspects, from economy, tourism, culture, cuisine, sports...
Speaking of sports, surely everyone remembers the name Park Hang Seo, the person who helped Vietnamese football achieve many brilliant successes.
Back to cuisine, in Vietnam today it is very easy to find traditional Korean restaurants. And conversely, in Korea it is also very easy to eat pho, bun bo, nem ran…
Koreans living in Ho Chi Minh City enjoy pho - Photo: QUANG DINH
Getting used to eating is one thing, but understanding the cultural depths behind a dish is something that requires effort and time. For example, we are familiar with kimchi, kimbap, rice cakes, spicy noodles, etc., but not all Vietnamese people understand the cultural stories behind these traditional Korean dishes.
Similarly, I also know that Koreans also love pho, but not everyone fully understands the history and culinary culture of Vietnam hidden in this famous dish."
In addition, according to Mr. Chu, the destination of Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 is to introduce to the Korean people the unique culinary cultural values, promote the images and economic potential of Vietnam; cultural exchange and connection; economic relations... as well as the beautiful and dynamic images of Korea will become closer to the Vietnamese people...
Ho Chi Minh City at the press conference announcing Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Korea
A bowl of Hanoi-style pho from Pho Nha Ngoi restaurant in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: QUANG DINH
In its first time going abroad and choosing Japan as its destination last year 2023, the Vietnam Pho Festival - Vietnam Pho Festival 2023 attracted 85,000 people to the festival, spreading the image of pho as well as Vietnamese cuisine to international friends.
A Vietnamese restaurant introduces Vietnamese pho in Seoul, South Korea - Photo: YEN
This year, Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 will choose Korea as the next destination to continue telling stories about Vietnam's national dish.
Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 is scheduled to take place in October 2024 with the theme "Enjoy Pho, Discover Vietnam".
The program is co-organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper and Saigontourist Group, under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.
The program is supported by the Embassy of Vietnam in Seoul (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, the Association of Vietnamese in Korea, and the Association of Vietnamese Enterprises in Korea.
Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 also receives support from the Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO, the Department of Northeast Asia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnam - Korea Friendship Association, the Korea - Southeast Asia Economic Cooperation Association (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea), the Korean Cuisine Association, and the Association of Vietnamese Alumni in Korea.
Golden star anise Cao Van Luan, YouTuber Nga Sumo and culinary artist Bui Thi Suong attended the press conference to launch the Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 event - Photo: QUANG DINH
Tuoi Tre Online updated.
Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 in Seoul, Korea will be launched from July 2024 with many rich and attractive contents such as Discovering Vietnamese Pho in Korea for pho lovers to review pho restaurants, tell stories of pho cooks in Korea to post on social networks; Korean youth contest to discover Vietnamese Pho for young Koreans to write articles sharing their experiences of Vietnamese Pho...
The highlight of Vietnam Pho Festival 2024 will be the Vietnamese Pho Festival taking place over two days at Yeouido Park, Seoul, Korea with a scale of about 70 booths, including 40 pho booths and cuisine from many famous, long-standing pho brands from Vietnam.
The festival also dedicates space to introduce pho as well as its characteristics, a series of exchange activities between Vietnamese and Korean cuisine...
Within the framework of the festival, there is also a business matching activity, creating opportunities for Vietnamese businesses operating in the food, foodstuff, and culinary sectors to participate in direct trade connections with Korean import-export businesses.
If I were in Vietnam, I wouldn't eat Korean food.Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vietnam-pho-festival-2024-tai-han-quoc-tinh-hoa-am-thuc-ra-the-gioi-20240729124204712.htm
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