Francophonie Week 2015 begins in Dhaka, Ctg Mar 12

A 10-day festival, Francophonie Week-2015 Bangladesh, begins in Dhaka and Chittagong on Thursday aiming to promote its core values such as peace, democracy, respect for human rights and sustainable development.

The event will be celebrated from March 12 to March 22 under the theme 'French, a hospitable language'.

The announcement came from a joint press conference held at Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) in Dhanmondi on Tuesday.

Six Francophone countries (France, Canada, Egypt, Morocco, Switzerland and Vietnam) AFD & Alliance Française de Chittagong (AFC) are organising the weeklong event in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The festival aims to celebrate the French language and the cultural diversity of the Francophonie community while promoting the other shared values-respect for the rule of law, gender equality, solidarity and cultural diversity.

Canadian High Commissioner Benoit Pierre Laramee, Egyptian Ambassador Mahmoud Ezzat, France Ambassador Aubert Sophie, Charge d' affaires of Embassy of Morocco Said Kasmi, Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Switzerland Caroline Trautweiler and Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Quang, among others, spoke at the press conference.

The French Ambassador said: "In Bangladesh, as for France, our goal is to give you the opportunity to know more about this special commonwealth that all of its Francophonie and Francophile members have built together throughout the years."

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