The awards, to be presented on March 18, at Hanoi 's InternationalConference Centre, are part of a wider Francophone festival that willfeature film screenings and other events.
Thai,vice-president of Vietnam-French Friendship Association, was a keyplayer in successfully organising the 7th Francophone Summit held inVietnam in 1997.
"Thai is an active person and theaward reflects his diplomatic contributions to the development ofFrench-speaking countries," said Swiss Ambassador Jean-Hubert Lebet, whois also president of the Francophone Embassies Delegations andInstitutes Group.
Professor Tue, director of the BacHa College, is also recognised for his efforts in raising the profileof the French language in Vietnam .
The officialawards ceremony will be attended by Vietnamese leaders and foreigndiplomatic representatives in Hanoi . It also includes a fashion showfeaturing ethnic dresses from Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia .
The Francophone film festival, which will screen 13 criticallyacclaimed films, will run on March 22-30 at Hanoi 's French CulturalCentre, 24 Trang Tien street , from March 28 to April 3 in HCMCity , and from March 28 to April 5 in Hue .
Featured films include Delicce Paloma ( France ), Marseille, Profil Grec( Greece ) and three Vietnamese documentary films: Lasting with Time,directed by Le Hong Chuong, Roads to Justice by Lai Van Sinh andCountryside, by Sy Chung.
Two films, Marseille,Profil Grec and Tunisia 's Bedwin Hacker will open the festival inHanoi on March 22, at 6pm and 8pm, respectively.
Director of Marseille, Profil Grec, Marco Gastine will attend and answer audience questions after the screening.
Other Francophone Day events include performances by Bas Cissoko, afive-member band that will treat young audiences to a night of worldmusic tomorrow at the Youth Theatre, 11 Ngo Thi Nham street .
This year, students who study French in Cambodia , Laos andVietnam will mark the 50th anniversary of the Francophone UniversityAgency with a contest that highlights students' knowledge of the Frenchliterature and culture.
The final round of the competition, which will include 49 teams, will be held in Cambodia on March 27.
On March 20, Hanoi University will host a conference on Frenchlanguage studies and culture, including performances and games.
Vietnam News Agency's television channel VNews and Le Corrier duVietnam will also take part in the festival by airing a new televisionprogramme to mark the event. /.