At the interview with the World and Vietnam Report on the occasion of Peru’s National Day (July 28, 1821-2022), Ambassador of Peru to Vietnam Augusto Morelli shared his positive assessment on the prospect of Vietnam-Peru relations and his unforgettable experience of driving bikes and learning Vietnamese.

Our National Day is on July 28, 1821. It’s a very important day for our nation.

Before being an independent country, we were part of the Viceroyalty of Spain. Spain was in several countries of South America, but the main center of Spanish power in those days was in Lima.

In 1821, we decided to be independent from the Viceroyalty – the Spanish crown, and became the Republic of Peru, as we call it today, and last year, we had a bicentennial celebration.

Because the central power of the Spanish crown was in Peru, if Peru was not independent, all the countries – Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador… - would not be independent. That’s why Independence Day is so important for us.

In Peru, every year on this day, we have celebrations with a lot of activities in every part of Peru. Normally we have 2 national holidays – July 28 and 29. All Peruvians get together with their family to enjoy performances of cultural dancing and military parade. It is a day to unify Peruvians.

It is a very attractive country, not only because of its special geography.

We have three natural regions. They are Amazonia - the jungle of Amazon, the highlands, which are very high, and the coach, which is a very special place.

In Peru, you can find the infrastructure of the Inca empire, like Machu Picchu. It is a stone citadel which was built in the highlands. Until now, nobody knew how the ancient people could bring those huge stone blocks to the place and cut them.

They didn’t have cement, but we cannot even put a hair between the two blocks.

We have Caral, the oldest city in America, which was made of mud 5000 years ago. There, we can find pyramids like in Egypt.

Peru is in a tropical zone, like Vietnam, but it is a desert. Why? From the south, it comes up a sea current called Humbolt which is very, very cold. Because it’s very cold, there is no water evaporation, then no clouds - no rain. However, cold water is the best temperature for fishes. So we have a lot of fish. But not only fish, we have a lot of food products. Whatever you want, you can look for it in Peru.

Peru is also a very peaceful country. We don’t have wars, except for internal differences sometimes.

Before the Spanish arrived in Peru, there lived a pre-Colombian culture in which they had a lot of things that we share today - textiles, technology, water systems, roads, bridges, cultivation, and potatoes.

The potatoes were grown in the Andean region for thousands of years before humanity knew about it. Potatoes all over the world came from the Andean region, which is now part of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

So, I can say we contribute a lot to humanity. Peru is so important that you should come to visit!

Peru shares a lot of things with Vietnam. Both countries are emerging economies. We produce a lot of natural products. We believe in multilateralism, in globalization. We are good neighbors in our respective regions and we are part of APEC and the CPTPP. Vietnam and Peru became the latest members of APEC and behind us they closed the door.

With the pre-Colombian culture, the two countries share millennial things like long histories.

We still have so much to do, though now COVID-19 is almost under control, so we can reactivate our economies. One way to do that is to promote tourism. We are working together in that sense.

Vietnam and Peru have a long history of relationship, though not directly. Officially, the presence of our Embassy was in 2014.

We decided to open an Embassy here because we want to be part of and to be present in the South Pacific area, especially Southeast Asia. And we are convinced that the future is in the Pacific economies, including Vietnam.

Vietnam and Peru are geographically very far from each other, so trade is not easy because of the time and cost of transportation. However, in 2021, bilateral trade reached 630 million USD, the highest amount we ever had.

The presence of Viettel and Petro Vietnam in Peru means that Vietnam has seen Peru as a reliable partner because you only invest in the areas where you can get a lot of money and the investment is secure. How does Peru see Vietnam? Absolutely the same.

I think that our relations have a very prominent future because we have many frameworks to work on. But all those frameworks won’t work alone, it is the people who make it work. So, the future is made by two. It is like marriage, a tango. In Spain we have a phrase “Tango danced by two”. We are looking forward to a short time when Vietnam will open its Embassy in Lima.

We are thinking of having a photo exhibition of QHAPAQ ÑAN – The great Inca road. It is the name of the highways of the Inca empire that connect all the cities.

We like to do it in September or October, maybe near Hoan Kiem lake. Actually, before COVID-19, we had an exhibition in Ly Thai To square with a music band we brought from Peru.

I would like to do outdoors like that. Because at the weekend, the streets there are close to cars, so people can walk with their kids and see the exhibition. I will not care about the weather, my goal is to reach the people.

At the beginning, I thought Hanoi was a demanding city. Firstly, there are a lot of people. Secondly, everybody does everything at the same time. You will find it on the street when you ride your scooter. All the time, Vietnamese people look like the water of the river, finding their own way to the sea. I understood that and I did not have any problem with driving. But many westerners can not drive here. They can not even cross the street.

I have two bikes. One is a Vinfast electric bike. I was the first Ambassador to buy a Vinfast, even before they sold it on the market. I haven’t changed it for 2 years, and I have gone 15.000 km. Then I bought a bigger one. We used to have a team of Ambassadors from Switzerland, Austria and the EU. The Argentinean Ambassador also has a bike. We drive outside Ha Noi. Before COVID-19, we travelled a lot, to Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Thai Lan, etc.I do have problems with communication. The Vietnamese language is so complicated. My wife and I tried to learn Vietnamese, but we couldn’t. First, to know and learn Vietnamese, you have to learn how to breathe and the way of using your throat. Since the pronunciation depends on the intonation of the words, it is difficult to pronounce them correctly.

Second, if you think you know something about Vietnamese, when you go to Ho Chi Minh City, nobody is going to understand you because they speak another language.

Actually, it is weird because Vietnamese people speak French better than English. Vietnamese have very good ears. Intonation is a matter of using ears. If you have good ears, you can sing, you can try musical instruments.

I think that Vietnam has a tremendous and clear future. Vietnam knows very well where it is going. The only thing is how fast you are going. You can follow a plan from 15 to 20 years if you are in charge of the plan.

Besides, education and health care are among the most priorities that the Vietnamese government has, which is good. When I travel around, I see many good schools. The boys are very well-addressed, and I don’t see poverty.

For the health system in Vietnam. I have tried public and semi-private systems here. Both have been very good. It was a very dedicated surgery, and I had no problem with the language because nurses and doctors speak English.

The moment I leave Vietnam, I will say: “I will miss Vietnam”. I am sure of that.

Thank you very much, Ambassador!

Nguyen Kim - Nguyen Hong