Nearly 500 representatives of more than 16,000 Vietnamese students have gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to mark the establishment of a coordination committee for the Vietnamese Youth and Student Association in the US. In the almost 20 years since Vietnam and the US normalised relations, the US Vietnamese student expatriate community has burgeoned. Vietnamese Youth and Student Association President Huynh The Du committed to fostering individual improvement and skill and knowledge cultivation in the name of broader Vietnamese development. He emphasised the association’s role as a cohesive force uniting the young Vietnamese student community in the US. Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, Nguyen Quoc Cuong noted the historic nature of the Vietnamese Youth and Student Association’s US presence, offering expatriate Vietnamese youth more opportunities to benefit from their compatriots’ support. A series of cultural and sports events have celebrated the official founding and raised funds to help disadvantaged children in Vietnam’s remote mountainous areas. American University student Ho Tran Hanh Linh won the “Charming Vietnam” beauty pageant. The Association’s organising board also presented awards to \ the winners of its “US Journey” contest. VOV