As a proactive and responsible member of ASEAN and NAM, Vietnam is committed to promoting peace and development, ensuring stability in the region and building a strong ASEAN community.

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to the UN made the statement at the ministerial meeting in Tehran, Iran on August 28-29.

This was part of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit on the theme “Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance” which took place on August 30-31.

In his speech, ambassador Trung said peace, cooperation and development have become a major trend in the world. However, some countries are still confronted with war, conflicts and instability.

The world economy continues to be adversely affected by economic and financial crisis and challenges to food security, energy and climate change in which developing countries are being most affected. Therefore, promoting cooperation in global governance is an urgent need, Trung said.

As a big political organization pursuing the goals of peace, national independence and development over the past 50 years, the NAM has significantly contributed to resolving major global issues.

In the current situation, the NAM should continue to enhance its role and make greater contributions to global governance by promoting peace and cooperation and settling conflicts by peaceful means in respect for international law.

The NAM should increase economic and trade cooperation, implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reform global institutions including the UN.

Ambassador Trung reiterated Vietnam’s stance that all disputes in the East Sea must be dealt with peacefully in line with the basic principles of international laws including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In that spirit, Vietnam emphasises the importance of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), the adoption of the Guidance implementing the DOC in 2011 and the early approval of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), he said.

** Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh is also attending the two-day Summit and is scheduled to deliver a speech at a plenary debate on August 31.

On the sidelines of the event, FM Minh met with the Cambodian and Bhutanese Prime Ministers, the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Singapore, Mongolia, Ghana, Mauritius, Senegal, Bolivia and Belarus, and the Minister of Presidential Office of Mozambique and the Secretary of State of the United Arab Emirates to talk about cooperation at multilateral forums and bilateral ties.

VOV