At the outset,
I should like to extend my warmest congratulations
to Mr. Sam Kutesa on his election as President of
the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I am
confident that under his able leadership this session
will enjoy great success. My appreciation also goes to
Mr. John William Ashe, President at the sixty-eighth
session, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for their
important contributions to the work of our Organization
over the past year.
This session of the General Assembly takes place as
we approach the seventieth anniversary of the founding
of the United Nations. It gives us the opportunity to
look back on the past almost 70 years of the United
Nations implementing its mandate to assist nations
to build a world of peace, security and sustainable
development, a world where fundamental rights and
freedoms are respected and promoted. It is also an
opportunity for in-depth discussions on the formulation
and implementation of the post-2015 development
agenda.
This year’s Assembly session is also convened
against the backdrop of a world landscape that features
numerous turning points and contrasts. On the bright
side, increasingly the United Nations is playing better
its central role in the promotion of the system of
rules and norms of international law, thus facilitating
solutions to global challenges, and of the interests of
peace and development for all nations. Globalization
and multilayered economic cooperation and linkages
continue to evolve strongly. Our efforts to realize the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have brought
encouraging results in most regions.
We see also a more sombre part, one that paints the
many daunting challenges the world is facing. The trend
of cooperation contains risks, while global economic
recovery is yet to be sustainable. International peace
and security are being challenged by the negative
factor of competition and intervention and especially
by the potential escalation of territorial and sovereignty
disputes. Ongoing crises and conflicts in the Middle
East and a number of African countries have inflicted
major human and material losses and threaten regional
and international peace and security.
Global challenges remain high on the agenda of the
international community. Terrorism, the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear security and
safety, environmental pollution, depletion of natural
resources, climate change, natural calamities, epidemics
and the lack of food and water security are issues of
primary concern to the international community. They
require enhanced joint efforts.
Peace and security are prerequisites for sustainable
development. The United Nations and its Member
States must live up to their responsibility to strengthen
international peace and security, prevent potential
conflicts and find solutions to ongoing hostilities.
That is an urgent task, but it also requires long-term
engagement. History has taught us that the paths that lead
to wars and conflicts lie in obsolete doctrines of power
politics, of ambitions of domination and imposition, and
of the threat of force in settling international disputes,
including territorial and sovereignty disputes.
Viet Nam believes that respect for international
law is the foundation of peace, security and stability
for sustainable development. More than ever, Member
States, big or small, rich or poor, must all respect and
seriously observe the principles, rules and norms of
the Charter of the United Nations and international
law. All nations must renounce the use of force as an
option in their international relations and instead settle
all disputes by peaceful means. That is a crucial area
in which the United Nations represents a powerful
advance from the League of Nations, and it commands
greater commitment and effort from Member States.
In that spirit, Viet Nam looks forward to substantive
progress in the negotiations for a comprehensive, fair
and long-term solution for peace in the Middle East that
will ensure the fundamental rights of the Palestinian
people and the legitimate interests of all parties. We are
deeply concerned about the escalating violence in Iraq.
and we support the efforts of the Iraqi Government and
the international community to stabilize the situation.
We call for an end to unilateral economic sanctions
against developing countries and support General
Assembly resolutions on ending the economic embargo
against Cuba.
Viet Nam strongly condemns all acts of terror in
any form, especially the targeting of civilians. We
support all international efforts and initiatives to
combat that menace in accordance with international
law and the United Nations Charter. In addition, we all
have a stake in economic restructuring, job creation,
achieving a balanced, inclusive and sustained growth,
and in maintaining a peaceful and stable environment
conducive to development.
It is therefore our primary task to complete the
MDGs and formulate the post-2015 development agenda
to create added momentum for sustainable development
in each country and for international economic linkages.
In that process, the United Nations should focus more
actions and resources on addressing social injustices
and inequalities. It should provide stronger support to
regional and subregional programmes for connectivity,
poverty reduction, narrowing the development gap
and building the green economy. That will lay a firm
and long-term foundation for peace, security and
development. In so doing, and to adapt itself to a
constantly changing world, the United Nations must
accelerate its reform process in a comprehensive,
balanced, transparent and equal manner in the interests
of all Member States. The Security Council must be
reformed in both membership and working methods
to better respond to global challenges to peace and
security.
In its national socioeconomic development and in its
international integration, Viet Nam has always attached
importance to the roles of multilateral institutions
and forums, especially that of the United Nations, in
the areas of international and regional security and
development. Viet Nam is proud to be an active and
responsible member of important regional and global
organizations, such as the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Non-Aligned Movement,
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Asia-
Europe Meeting. Viet Nam is doubling its efforts to
achieve all MDGs and is actively participating in the
formulation of the post-2015 development agenda.
It is our consistent, principled position to respect
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States and
to settle international disputes and conflicts, including
the issue of the East Sea, or South China Sea, by
peaceful means in accordance with international law,
including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea. Viet Nam abides by the Declaration
on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and
works to ensure an early adoption of the code of conduct
for parties in the South China Sea.
We support efforts to strengthen the multilateral
trade system to create fresh momentum for the world
economy in order to regain sustained growth. Viet Nam
is willing to join global efforts to enhance economic
linkages and reform the global economic and trade
governance towards greater equality, democracy,
transparency and efficiency.
Viet Nam and other ASEAN member States are
working hard to establish the ASEAN Community in
2015 with three pillars: political-security cooperation,
economic cooperation and social-cultural cooperation.
That, we believe, will help to build a South-East Asian
region of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity
and to form a regional architecture with ASEAN at the
centre, founded upon international law and aimed at
developing common rules and norms for the region.
To contribute to international efforts to enhance
principles and norms for peace, sustainable
development and human rights, Viet Nam is playing an
active and constructive role as a member of the Human
Rights Council. For the very first time, Viet Nam has
dispatched its military officers to the United Nations
peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Looking
forward, Viet Nam has presented its candidature for the
Economic and Social Council for the 2016-2018 term
and for the Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.
We count on the valuable support of members.
Peace and development are inseparable companions.
They complement each other on the path towards a
prosperous world. We are confident that with political
will, mutual trust and equality based on international
law and responsible joint actions, we can build stronger
partnerships for peace, cooperation and sustainable
development for all.