Vietnam's Museum Of Culture Plans To Expand Its ASEAN Exhibition Room

From Syed Iylia Hariz Al-Qadri Syed Izman THAI NGUYEN (VIETNAM), Dec 15 (Bernama) -- In line with ASEAN moves to launch the ASEAN Community by end of this month, the Museum of Culture of Vietnam's Ethnic groups' plans to expand its ASEAN Exhibition Room. Its director, Dr Nguyen Thi Ngan said with the expansion of the ASEAN room from 150 square metres to a 1,000 square metres by next year, she hoped more information on the regional grouping could be put up to provide more information for the Vietnamese. She hoped the information provided would help the Vietnamese to understand more about their ASEAN neighbours. She told Bernama here Tuesday. Yesterday (Monday) she received a visit by ASEAN media representatives to the museum, which was set up in 1960, and the largest museum on Vietnam's ethnic minorities which exhibits more than 10,000 documents and artifacts belonging to the cultural heritage of 54 ethnic tribes of Vietnam. Nguyen said with the expansion plan, the museum needed more materials, pictures, information and artifacts from ASEAN 10-member countries, since they are allocating a 100 square metre room for each country. "We hope we can work with all ASEAN museum departments to supply us with the materials we need to fill up the rooms," she said. She said among the activities at the ASEAN Exhibition Room, were exposure on the different national flags, the currencies, the greeting styles, and cultural heritage. "These will help young people learn about the country, the people and culture of the ASEAN countries," she said. Nguyen added that the project was an initiative by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism (MOCST). The museum, located in Thai Nguyen province, is about 80 kilometres from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. -- BERNAMA