HCM City launches “Tree Planting Day” to commemorate President Ho

      A tree planting ceremony in memory of President Ho Chi Minh was held on May 17 at the Hung Kings Memorial in the National History and Culture Park in Long Binh, Ho Chi Minh City, to celebrate the 119th anniversary of his birth.
The event was attended by about 400 soldiers, members of the city’s Communist Youth Union, students and local residents.
Also present at the ceremony were Le Thanh Hai, member of the Politburo and city Party Committee Secretary; Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city People’s Committee, Duong Quan Ha, chairman of the city Fatherland Front Committee, and other high-ranking officials.
Addressing the event, Mr Quan reminded people that President Ho Chi Minh once said that the planting of trees and forests would bring economic benefits for the environment and society.
Today when the environment is seriously polluted, the President’s instructions become more significant and essential, he said.
He called on individuals, agencies and organizations in the city to actively take part in the campaign to plant trees and protect and develop forests, so as to increase the green coverage rate in the city to 38.2 percent this year and boost protective forests and special-use forests to 38,250 hectares by 2010.
After the ceremony, participants planted 320 trees of various varieties in the park.
According to the city’s Sub-Department of Forestry Development, the total area of forests and forest land in the city last year was 41,540 hectares and the green coverage rate was 38 percent.
In related news, the same day saw the National Congress of Outstanding Young People Following the President’s Instructions held in Hanoi, with many activities launched.
A delegation of 500 young people representing the campaign "Vietnamese Young People Learning and Following President Ho Chi Minh's Instructions" paid a visit to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, where they heard a recording of the President’s instructions to Vietnamese youth.
A member of the delegation, Vo Van Hai, said on behalf of the group that “today’s Vietnamese youth are always volunteer pioneers in the building of socialism in Vietnam, as well as the country’s industrialization, modernization and international integration.”
First secretary of the central committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vo Van Thuong, presented every member of the delegation with a memorial cup as a reward for their great contribution to the country’s development.
Many issues related to youth, such as incentive policies for volunteers and education loans for poor students, were discussed at four forums: “Young people live a beautiful and useful life everyday,” “Youth volunteers for the sake of community and fatherland’ sovereignty,” “Young people volunteer to contribute to socio-economic development” and “Cultivate the mind to steadily move forward.”
The delegation also took part in a program to help realize young people’s political and economic aspirations. The program was entitled “Lighting up Vietnamese young people’s dream, for a strong country with its wealthy people and a just, democratic and civilized society.”
On the morning of May 17, a ceremony was held to honor outstanding young people and review achievements gained in the past two and half years of the above-mentioned campaign.