San Francisco-Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee

San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee
Programs and Selected Activities for 2024
STARTING OUR 30th YEAR of CITIZEN DIPLOMACY (1995-2025)

Monthly Networking Meetings: These regular business and social “Meetups” are an opportunity for people to learn about the Committee’s activities and to meet others who have an interest in Vietnam. Attendees include businesspeople, researchers, tourists, educators, students, veterans, leaders of other NGOs and governmental agencies.

Economic and Goodwill Missions: The Committee organizes in-bound and out-bound visits from and to Vietnam. In the past, we visited Ho Chi Minh City (formerly called Sai Gon), Ha Long Bay, Da Nang and Ha Noi. Delegates learned about the economic, political and social changes that have taken place throughout the country and were introduced to new business opportunities. We added Da Lat, Hoi An and Nha Trang to the itinerary in 2019. During these visits we arranged face-to-face meetings for delegates who were interested in looking for business partners or who had other special interests. Inbound missions have included visits by business and government leaders from Ho Chi Minh City and other cities in Vietnam. We have resumed trade, business, tourism and other missions during 2023 and have been invited by the U.S. Consulate General to participate in the 4th of July activities in Ho Chi Minh City.

Healthcare and Biotechnology Programs: We have supported healthcare and biotechnology programs, while exploring ways to improve the Vietnamese health system. We are especially interested in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, Agent Orange, autism, and head trauma. The Committee has organized forums related to Biotechnology in both countries and we expect to resume many of these activities in 2024.

Art and Cultural Programs: The art and culture of Vietnam is of tremendous interest to the Committee. You can learn to speak, read and write Vietnamese, learn about Vietnamese folklore, the country’s history and its people. The Committee, in cooperation with the San Francisco Public Library supports a book exchange program between the libraries of the two cities. We are organizing sports exchanges and art exchanges and expect a pre-eminent musician to visit and perform in San Francisco in 2024.

Transportation/Urban Planning Programs: Ho Chi Minh City is a large vibrant city. We continue to offer the expertise of our urban planners, architects and engineers in the development of the infrastructure of Ho Chi Minh City and have collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution and the California Academy of Sciences in the planning, design and construction of a state of the art natural history museum in Ho Chi Minh City. The organization has successfully supported direct flights between the sister cities and are pleased that Vietnam Airlines now has non-stop flights between the two cities. Likewise, we anticipate that Bamboo Airways to begin similar service soon.

Other Programs: We have only touched upon some of the activities of this Sister City Committee. The Committee organizes special events that recognize, promote and celebrate the Sister City relationship