Dushanbe (VNA) – Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinhattended the fifth Conference on Interaction andConfidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) that took place in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan from June 14-15.

Addressing theevent, the Vice President affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of treasuring peace,cooperation and development, promoting international integration, activelyengaging in and contributing to the international community’s common work,building and shaping multilateral mechanisms at regional and global levels basedon the principles of equality, transparency and respect for law.

She emphasized thatVietnam always works hard to maintain a peaceful and stable environment in theregion, ensure aviation and maritime freedom, settle disputes through peacefulmeasures in line with international law, including the UN Charter and the UNConvention on the Law of the Sea 1982, fully implement the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea, and push forward negotiations for a Code ofConduct in the East Sea.

The VicePresident noted that the CICA has the potential to become a driving force forthe world economy in the future, but is also a region with great risks ofconflict that can cause serious consequences for the region and the world, aswell as challenges such as slowing growth, environmental problems andtrans-national crime.

She stressed thatthe CICA should promote its role as a forum for building trust in Asia and upholdingthe fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter, includingrespecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, notto use or threaten to use force, and not to interfere in countries’ internalaffairs, and settling disputes through peaceful measures.

The CICA should assistmember countries in coping with challenges through fostering economiccooperation and development, expanding cultural, social exchange andstrengthening connections among countries and people.

On the occasion,the Vice President thanked countries for electing Vietnam as a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

She declared thatVietnam, as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, will make further contributions to theCICA’s operation in the spirit of “partner for sustainable peace”, whilestrengthening collaboration within the CCICA framework as well as between CICAand other partner countries and organisations, including the UN and the ASEAN.

The fifth CICAtook place while the Asian and global situations have seen complicated changes.Hot spots of conflicts have yet to be settled, while terrorism andtrans-national crimes continue to pose negative impacts on peace, security anddevelopment in the region.

State leaders atthe conference, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese PresidentXi Jinping, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, agreed that CICA membercountries should promote dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual trustand respect for international law and the UN Charter, thus seeking solutions totraditional and non-traditional security challenges, increasing integrationtowards the goal of an Asia of trust, mutual understanding and cooperation forcommon sustainable development and prosperity.

The conference adopteda Dushanbe Declaration, pledging to strive to turn CICA into a majormultilateral mechanism to promote dialogue and cooperation in Asia through fairtrade, market opening, cultural exchange, connectivity, tourism, and cleanenergy development.

During her stay,Vice President Thinh had a meeting with the host President Emomali Rahmon. Shealso met the Chinese President, the King of Qatar, the Prime Minister ofAzerbaijan, and the Foreign Minister of India to discuss measures to promotebilateral relations and coordination at multilateral forums.-VNA