The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) on March 27 in Hanoi opened French courses for Vietnamese diplomats and officials under a cooperation agreement between Vietnam and the International Francophone Organisation (OIF) for the 2013 – 2016 period. Addressing the opening ceremony, DAV Deputy Director Nguyen Dinh Thao said 2013 is the first year to carry out the agreement, marking a new development of the Francophone community in Vietnam . Anissa Barrak, OIF Regional Director for Asia-Pacific said launching the courses manifests Vietnam’s determination in popularising the French language on the basis of promoting language diversity in international relations. Assistant to the Foreign Minister Nguyen Ngoc Son stressed that this is one of measures to realise the policy on enhancing cooperation with Asia-Pacific region adopted by heads of OIF governments and states at the Francophone Summit in Kinshasa , the Democratic Republic of Congo, last October. Vietnam is the first regional country to implement the project, which will facilitate French language training for diplomats and officials working in ministries and departments, especially those in charge of international relations affairs, he said. At present, as many as 226 Foreign Ministry officials use French as the first or second language in workplace. French is now an official language in 32 states and governments around the world as well as United Nations bodies and international agencies.