Vietnam UNSC bid on track for 2020

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Photo: VNA

While attending the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, taking place from September 25 to October 1 with the theme “Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared

Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies”, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that Vietnam commits to always being an active and responsible member of the international community and the UN.

“Vietnam is making great efforts to ensure fairness and sustainable development, boost equality and support disadvantageous groups of people, protect the environment, and ensure rights and benefits for all people,” he said, also underlining the necessity of promoting multilateralism and global partnerships with shared responsibility to make the UN stronger, more democratic, and more effective, and ensure adequate resources for UN operations, especially in support for developing countries.

Vietnam also called on all UN member states to support Vietnam’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the 2020-2021 tenure. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh said that if elected, Vietnam will do its best to promote dialogue and co-operation to prevent conflicts and peacefully settle international disputes, protect civilians amid conflicts, and deal with the aftermath of wars, thus building sustainable peace.

Vietnam will also work to strengthen co-operation between the UNSC and regional organisations, he said.

Earlier, at a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Group at the UN on May 25, Vietnam was nominated by 53 Asia-Pacific nations for a position as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2020-2021 term. Vietnam served as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the first time in the 2008-2009 term.

Tran Viet Thai, vice head of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, told VIR that the voting for the new seat will be held by the UN General Assembly in June 2019.

“The nomination is a vivid illustration of Vietnam’s prestige among regional nations and it will create favourable conditions for Vietnam to mobilise support from countries in other regions,” Thai said.

According to him, there are several reasons behind Vietnam’s running for a non-permanent seat at the UNSC. For example, holding a non-permanent seat at the UNSC means the highest level of international integration that a nation such as Vietnam can reach.

Besides, in the 2008-2009 tenure, Vietnam performed its role as a non-permanent member of the UNSC well. Thus, Vietnam has won great confidence from the international community.

Vietnam joined the UN on September 20, 1977, and since then, the country’s relationship with the global organisation has seen steady progress.