Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh launched the Tet tree planting festival in the year of the Cat.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signs the guestbook at the K9 relic site. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

On the occasion of the traditional New Year of the nation - Spring Quy Mao 2023, on the morning of January 27 (January 6), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh offered incense to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh and attended the launching ceremony of the Tree Planting Festival "Eternal gratitude to Uncle Ho" at the K9-Da Chong Relic Site, Ba Vi, Hanoi.

Also attending were Politburo members: Minister of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang; Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung; Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; leaders of central departments, ministries and branches; officers and soldiers of the Ministry of National Defense; and people from all walks of life in Hanoi.

At the Uncle Ho Memorial House in the K9-Da Chong Relic Site, a special historical site closely associated with the revolutionary life of the great President Ho Chi Minh, the Prime Minister and delegates respectfully offered flowers and incense in memory, expressing their infinite gratitude for the great contributions of President Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Party, State and people of Vietnam; He devoted and sacrificed his whole life to the cause of national liberation, fighting for peace and happiness of the Vietnamese people and the world; Hero of National Liberation, Outstanding Cultural Figure.

The Prime Minister and delegates vowed to strive to study and follow his moral example, ideology and style, contributing to building an increasingly powerful and prosperous country and a more prosperous and happy people.

The launching ceremony of the Tree Planting Festival - Forever Grateful to Uncle Ho - Spring of Quy Mao 2023, organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in coordination with the Ministry of National Defense and Hanoi City.

This is a national activity to kick off the nationwide Tree Planting Festival to implement the program "For a Green Vietnam" in 2023 with the goal of planting 22.5 million new trees.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh launched the Tree Planting Festival to forever remember Uncle Ho. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

At the ceremony, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that 64 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh called on all people to respond to the tree planting month: "This work costs little but has many benefits," "For the benefit of 10 years, we must plant trees."

Since then, "Tree Planting Festival" has become a good tradition of our people during Tet holiday.

According to the Prime Minister, in order to carry out Uncle Ho's will, over the past 64 years, our Party and State have had many programs to plant, protect and develop forests and protect the ecological environment. Millions of hectares of forest and hundreds of millions of trees have been planted across the country, contributing to greening barren land and hills, improving the ecological environment, developing the country's socio-economy, actively contributing to mitigating natural disasters, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and effectively responding to climate change. Our country's forest cover has increased from 28% in 1990 to over 42% in 2022; absorbing over 70 million tons of CO2.

The Prime Minister said that tree planting not only protects the environment and biodiversity but is also an important economic sector, bringing huge benefits to our country in the present and future.

Implementing the Party and State's policy on sustainable development, Vietnam has participated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change since 1992. Notably, at the 26th Conference (COP26), Vietnam committed to implementing a roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

“This demonstrates Vietnam's determination and political commitment to addressing serious global challenges of climate change and ecosystem degradation, towards the goal of a healthy planet,” the Prime Minister pointed out.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his joy, acknowledged and commended localities, agencies and units with many good, practical and effective initiatives and methods with very specific messages such as "Contribute 1 tree to have a forest", "One million trees for Vietnam", "Act for a green Vietnam", "Join hands to green schools", "Gifts for seeds", "More trees, more life"...

To continue to effectively organize the movement “Tet tree planting to forever remember Uncle Ho”, the Prime Minister calls on all compatriots, comrades, soldiers nationwide, students, young people, Vietnamese people and foreign organizations in Vietnam to enthusiastically participate in tree planting right from the first days of spring and throughout the year; for a green, safe, and sustainably developed Vietnam.

The Prime Minister believes that the "Tet Tree Planting" movement in 2023 will achieve many good results, contributing to realizing the aspiration to develop a strong and prosperous Vietnam according to the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and bringing prosperity and happiness to the people, as the sacred wish of Uncle Ho.

At the launching ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presented a symbolic tree to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection Command and together with delegates, officers, soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army and people from all walks of life planted 3,000 trees on a total area of ​​35 hectares at the K9-Da Chong Relic Site.

According to VNA