Vietnam’s prestige elevated in 2017

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, photo source: internet

One of Vietnam’s most eminent diplomatic achievements in 2017 was the successful organisation of APEC 2017, especially the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week. How important was this event for Vietnam to further enhance its status and prestige internationally?

The year 2017 was the most successful in the country’s diplomatic work over the past many years, helping to promote Vietnam’s international image. This was also reflected in a remark by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at a teleconference between the government and localities organised on December 28, 2017.

Most prominently, Vietnam excellently hosted APEC 2017, which culminated in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in the city of Danang. This event created positive and multi-dimensional effects, continued to underscore APEC as a leading region in economic co-operation and connectivity, and gave prominence to Vietnam as the host of such a global-level event.

For the first time in 10 years, all APEC leaders attended the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, while dozens of thousands of delegates, enterprises, and reporters flew to Vietnam for various meetings during APEC 2017.

Vietnam has made a good impression on its international friends with everything from its organisation work to its guaranteed strict security.

International members, friends, and media agencies have highly valued APEC 2017’s theme of “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future”, with documents and four priorities – namely promoting sustainable, innovative, and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises’ competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change – proposed at the event. The event turned Vietnam into a giant magnet, contributing to promoting the country’s image and status internationally.

APEC 2017 vividly reflected the fact that our multilateral diplomacy has been heightened and shifted to “proactively contributing to building and shaping common rules of the game”, thereby helping to protect and accelerate the country’s strategic interests in terms of security and development, while demonstrating the responsible spirit of Vietnam in the international community.

The success of APEC 2017 has generated new confidence, new power, and new momentum for the country’s international integration, and promoted the national pride, self-reliant spirit, and desire of Vietnam’s people and business community to better themselves.

During the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, we welcomed state visits by Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump within just one day. We also received official visits by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while conducting more than 50 bilateral meetings with leaders of APEC economies. In 2017, we also conducted high-quality diplomatic activities, which has helped further boost the country’s relationship with its partners in quality, stability, and sustainability.

With major anniversaries in our relationships with Laos and Cambodia and through high-level visits to Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand, we have strongly enhanced and further riveted our qualitative co-operation with nations in the region. Vietnam’s relationship with other key partners such as China, Russia, the US, Japan, and India has also heightened politically and economically.

In addition, we forged comprehensive partnerships with Myanmar and Canada in 2017.

What are Vietnam’s achievements in trade and investment co-operation with its partners last year?

Well, that was also a great success in our diplomatic work in 2017. Vietnam actively continued its international integration through the negotiation and implementation of free trade agreements (FTA).

Aside from realising existing FTAs and the agreements between ASEAN and its partners, we have also negotiated and implemented new-generation FTAs.

For instance, Vietnam and other member states continued discussions on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is the new attempt at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and ensured that all Vietnam’s interests are represented.

Along with many nations, Vietnam is also boosting the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and mobilising the EU to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam FTA, in order to then adopt and implement it. Leaders of partner countries have also agreed with Vietnam to effectively implement the Vietnam- Eurasian Economic Union FTA and the Korea-Vietnam FTA.

Vietnam’s great growth potential and strong efforts in reform and integration, as well as in building a facilitating government, have helped further rivet the country’s economic ties with its partners.

In 2017, Vietnam’s total export-import turnover hit a record figure of $425 billion, while the country also received a record number of almost 13 million international tourist arrivals, up 30 per cent year-on-year.

During the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week alone, 121 co-operation deals worth $20 billion were signed.

Moreover, Vietnam has been recognised to have a fully market-based economy by 69 nations.

The government, ministries, sectors, and overseas representative agencies have been doing a very good job in seeking foreign markets for goods made in Vietnam.

One of the diplomatic sector’s most important achievements with a great impact on national development is that we have continued contributing to political stability, security, and social order. Could you elaborate on this?

Yes, in 2017, Vietnam’s diplomatic work has continued contributing to the firm protection of national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, ensuring national political stability, security and social order.

All diplomatic activities concerning defence and security have been further beefed up, with the country’s defence and security co-operation with many partner countries becoming increasingly effective.

Vietnam and Laos have completed their border demarcation project. Vietnam and Cambodia have completed 84.6 per cent of their border marker posting work on land. Vietnam, China, and Laos have also effectively implemented documents on border and border gate management.

Vietnam, other ASEAN countries, and China have proactively boosted and agreed on the adoption of a framework on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea, and also officially triggered negotiations of the COC.

Vietnam has also boosted negotiations and discussions of maritime issues with nations in the region, while firmly fighting any action that violates our territorial sovereignty.

We also steadfastly fight all actions that distort Vietnam’s policies on democracy, human rights, and religion. We boost dialogue mechanisms on human rights with constructive discussions, in order to increase understanding and reduce differences, and to secure stable co-operation between countries.

In order to enhance Vietnam’s diplomatic achievements in 2017, what will the diplomatic sector focus on in 2018, so as to harvest more achievements?

In 2018 and beyond, Vietnam’s diplomatic sector will continue synchronously implementing all tasks, enhancing the great successes of APEC 2017 and of bilateral relationships, so that the relationships will attain a higher quality and become more effective. We will also materialise all orientations in our multilateral foreign policy, make preparations for the country to undertake the role as chair of ASEAN in 2020, and stand for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure. In addition, we will steadfastly continue protecting national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

We will also lead the country to greater international integration in order to implement Resolution No.6 of the 12th Party Central Committee on effective implementation of international economic integration. This job must be done by the whole government, ministries, sectors, and all 63 cities and provinces. We will also deploy diplomatic activities in many other sectors such as citizen protection and facilitating Vietnamese expatriates to further integrate into foreign nations.

Additionally, we will also lift our relationship with countries that we already have comprehensive partnerships with to a higher level.

Under the clear-sighted leadership of the Party and the close co-operation of arms, diplomatic channels, the whole political system, and the entire people, Vietnam’s diplomatic sector stands ready to successfully cope with and weather all challenges, and will continue making great contributions to the construction and protection of the country and the Party, as well as to ensuring national interests.