The ASEAN Centre at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) of Russia on November 27 organised a cultural and music festival of ASEAN countries as part of activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of relations between the two sides, Vietnam news reports. 

Addressing the event, Acting Director of the ASEAN Centre Ekaterina Koldunova emphasised that cultural diplomacy is one of the important tasks, in addition to political research, thereby further enhancing relations between Russia and ASEAN member countries.

Since its establishment, the ASEAN Centre has paid great attention to cultural relations and considered this an important education task, she noted.

According to Koldunova, all Southeast Asian countries have a particularly interesting culture that Russian people can only know through travel.

Events such as the festival will help the centre understand more about the countries, culture and people of ASEAN members through music, arts, and movies, she added

At the event, students from Russia and many countries performed musical repertoire imbuing the identity of the ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Russia after performing the song "Hello Vietnam", Lisa, a student of MGIMO’s Vietnamese language faculty, said she has actively participated in the institute’s activities to popularise Vietnamese culture to Russian people.

ASEAN is one of the priorities of Russia's foreign policy in the East, in which cultural diplomacy is part of the country’s strategic directions to promote substantive and effective relations with Southeast Asian countries./.