A Spanish reading room opened at the National Library in Hanoi on July 9.

The reading room with 1,000 books and 1,800 e-books was set up with assistance from Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam Maria de la Soledad Fuentes together with the embassies of Spain, Venezuela and some South American countries.

On this occasion, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presented an insignia to the Spanish ambassador for her great contributions to cultural activities, friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Maria de la Soledad Fuentes started her term of office in Vietnam in 2006 and she has assisted in boosting cooperation between the national libraries of Vietnam and Spain. She has helped collect more than 1,000 book titles worth over EUR50,000 for the Vietnam National Library.

The diplomat also helped the Vietnam Fine Arts Association improve its facilities and establish Spanish faculties at foreign languages colleges in Hanoi.