Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and theUnited Nations (UN) have spared no effort to nurture their cooperative tiesover the past four decades, thus achieving remarkable results, President TranDai Quang said in a press interview on the 40th anniversary of Vietnam’s UNmembership.

The president stressed that the admission ofVietnam as an official member of the UN on September 20, 1977 is an importantevent for the country.

The Vietnamese State and people always treasurethe valuable and practical assistance that the UN has provided for Vietnam, headded.

The President recalled that in the late 1970sand early 1980s, UN assistance made up 60 percent of total foreign aid toVietnam. When the country embarked on the cause of Doi Moi (renewal),industrialization, modernisation and international integration, theorganisation has provided hundreds of millions of USD in aid each year.

The UN’s aid is of great help for Vietnam torealise its socio-economic development goals and become one of the nations tofulfill the UN Millennium Development Goals soon, he said.

As an active and responsible member of theinternational community, Vietnam regards the cooperative ties with the UN asone of the top priorities in its external affairs policies, President Quangsaid.

According to the State leader, since the firstdays of joining the UN, Vietnam has been proactively and actively involved inUN activities. International friends have acknowledged Vietnam’s role in world movementsfor national independence, sovereignty and right of self-determination as wellas in those to stop arms race and advocate comprehensive and full disarmament,he added.

The international community also recognisedVietnam’s active contributions to the building and implementation of UNtreaties and conventions along with the building of an equal, transparent andeffective global multilateral institution, meeting the mankind’s aspiration, hesaid.

The President stressed that Vietnam upholds thefundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter in addressing internationalconflicts and disputes through peaceful means, and attaches importance to the centralrole of the UN in maintaining peace and security around the world. 

He noted that Vietnam is leading in theimplementation of the UN initiative of “Delivering As One”, and is alsostriving to implement successfully the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development,the Paris agreement on climate change, and the UN initiative on coping with ElNino and La Nina and peacekeeping activities.

With its efforts and effective contributions tothe UN activities and development, Vietnam has won the trust of theinternational community, which was demonstrated by the high number of votes toelect the country to UN agencies, particularly the UN Security Council (the2008-2009 tenure), the UN Economic and Social Council (the 1998-2000 and2016-2018 tenures), the UN Human Rights Council (the 2014-2016 tenure), the UNESCOExecutive Council (the 2015-2019 tenure), and the International Law Commission (the2017-2021 tenure). 

Talking about the future of the relationsbetween Vietnam and the UN, President Tran Dai Quang said under the 12th PartyCongress’ Resolution of proactively participating in and promoting the role atmultilateral mechanisms, especially ASEAN and the UN, Vietnam will enhance thecooperation with the UN in a deeper and more effective manner, contributing tothe maintenance of peace, stability, and sustainable development in the regionand around the world. 

Vietnam vows to stand side by side with othermember countries to promote fundamental principles of the UN Chapter andinternational law along with equal, friendly and cooperative relations amongnations, ensuring legitimate interests of all countries, especially developingones, the President said.

Vietnam will increase its involvement in the UNpeacekeeping activities and support the UN reform efforts towards increasingefficiency, transparency and democracy in all activities. 

The country is committed to fulfilling its roleas a member in UN mechanisms and takes the lead in proposing specificinitiatives in fields of priority. 

President Quang said Vietnam is running for anon-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure, with thehope to make active and pragmatic contributions to the UN efforts in safeguardinginternational peace and security. 

He said Vietnam and the UN will focus onimplementing the Joint One Strategic Plan for the 2017-2021 period signedbetween the two sides last July, adding that the plan with four priorities isexpected to assist Vietnam in implementing the sustainable development strategyin 2011-2020, the socio-economic development plan in 2016-2020, and the UNsustainable development goals. 

The plan will lay an important foundation forthe country to carry out specific cooperation activities with the UN in theyears to come, the President said.-VNA