Mr. President, at the
outset, permit me to extend to you my warmest
congratulations on your election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-second session. I believe
that with your immense competence, you will lead this
session to a successful conclusion. I highly commend
Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his important contributions as the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. I respectfully
convey to all delegates and, through them, to the
people of all Member countries, the greetings of
friendship from the Vietnamese people.
When humankind entered the new millennium,
we all wished for a more peaceful world, more friendly
international relations and a better life. Nearly a decade
has elapsed, but that wish has not come true. We are
still living in a world blessed with numerous
opportunities and at the same time beset with
adversities and challenges. It is a blessing that since
the establishment of the United Nations, humankind
has not experienced any more world wars. However,
local wars and conflicts, international terrorism and the
continuing arms race, including the nuclear arms race,
remain daunting threats to our world today.
Thanks to the miraculous scientific and
technological achievements, human living conditions
have improved continuously. However, there remains a
bitter reality that the gap in living standards between
nations and population groups is increasing. Nearly
1 billion people are still living in extreme poverty. At
the same time, many pressing global issues have
emerged, of which epidemics, environmental pollution
and climate change have proved to be serious threats to
human life.
We note with satisfaction the rapid proliferation
of regional and global cooperation arrangements. In the
meantime, the world is yet to be free from tense
confrontation, acts of unilateral imposition, violations
of national independence and sovereignty, inequality
and unfair treatment in international relations.
All these require that together we make greater
efforts to maintain peace and stability in all parts of the
world, promote equal cooperative relations between
and among States, and ensure an international
environment conducive to the development of each and
every nation.
In the face of enormous challenges in the new
millennium, peoples of the world had high expectations
of the United Nations and, in that connection, Viet
Nam fully associates itself with the orientations
charted by the United Nations summits in 2000 and
2005 for the work of the Organization in consolidating
peace, security, cooperation and development.
We hope that the United Nations will, together
with Member States, intensify efforts to establish long-
lasting peace in the Middle East - including efforts
aimed at an appropriate solution to the Israel-Palestine
conflict - put an end to conflicts and violence in a
number of African countries, restore stability in Iraq
and Afghanistan and control and prevent the
proliferation of nuclear weapons. Viet Nam supports
the settlement of the Korean Peninsula issues through
dialogue, in conformity with international law, and
shares the Korean people’s desire for peaceful
reunification.
The United Nations Millennium Declaration of
2000 and its policy of promoting sustainable
development and ensuring the harmonious combination
of economic growth with social equity and
environmental protection have elicited practical
responses from Member States. Viet Nam hopes that
the United Nations will play a more active role in that
process in order to create further opportunities for
underdeveloped countries to escape poverty and
advance with the mainstream countries of the world. In
that light, Viet Nam hopes that the Doha Round will be
concluded soon to facilitate a fair international trading
system.
Viet Nam strongly supports development
cooperation between countries and the establishment of
equal international relations in economic, financial and
trade areas with special attention paid to the needs of
developing and least developed countries, including the
removal of imposed economic blockades and
embargoes. We hope that the United Nations will have
more resources for development cooperation, with
priority given to the implementation of programmes of
action on poverty reduction, advancement of women,
child care, population planning and HIV/AIDS
prevention. Viet Nam strongly supports common
efforts, especially the efforts of the United Nations, to
protect the environment and to better respond to
climate change.
For the United Nations to fulfil its noble mandate
in a vastly changed world, the question of United
Nations reform has been raised and keenly discussed.
Viet Nam holds that the process of reform should be
intensified and goes along with the common
understanding that the reforms should ensure the broad
participation of all Member States and should be
carried out in a transparent manner. Reform should also
build upon past experience and, at the same, have a
comprehensive forward-looking vision.
In 1945, the United Nations was founded, right at
a time when the Vietnamese people had just gained
their independence. Stemming from the belief in the
purposes and principles of the United Nations and the
desire to contribute to the work of that new
international organization, as early as in January 1946,
President Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the new
Vietnamese State, wrote to the first session of the
United Nations General Assembly, stating clearly, “Our
nation has gained independence and earnestly requests
that you recognize our independence and admit our
nation into the United Nations”.
Regrettably, it was not until 1977 that Viet Nam
became a full Member of the United Nations. Over the
past 30 years in its capacity as a United Nations
Member, Viet Nam has always worked actively for
peace, stability, cooperation and development in the
world. Viet Nam has made significant contributions to
turning South-East Asia from a war-divided region of
confrontation into one of peace, friendship and
cooperation, which is now moving towards an
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Community based on the three pillars: political and
security matters, economic matters, and cultural and
social matters.
It is our consistent position to support efforts
towards the peaceful settlement of conflicts, upholding
national independence and state sovereignty, promoting
development programmes, tackling global social issues
and establishing equal international political and
economic relations for mutual benefit.
Viet Nam will continue with its policy of being a
friend and reliable partner to all countries, striving for
peace, independence, cooperation and development.
We have established diplomatic relations with 174
countries and economic and trade ties with almost all
countries and territories in the world. Viet Nam is an
active member of many other regional and global
organizations and forums. Most recently, Viet Nam
joined the World Trade Organization as its 150th
member. Viet Nam has been elected to the governing
positions of many United Nations bodies and is now
working closely with United Nations development
organizations to implement the “One United Nations”
initiative in Viet Nam as a pilot country.
We highly appreciate the assistance and support
extended by United Nations organizations to Viet Nam.
Our significant achievements in socio-economic
development have enabled Viet Nam to fulfil a number
of Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule,
especially in poverty reduction. That is also
attributable to the support of the international
community.
We consider it important to promote South-South
cooperation. Despite being a poor country, we
participated actively in the tripartite cooperation
arrangement between Viet Nam and a United Nations
agency to support African countries in the agricultural
sector. So far, that programme has produced
encouraging results.
With the desire to make further contributions to
the work of the international community, in 1997 Viet
Nam decided to run for a non-permanent seat on the
Security Council for the 2008-2009 term. I take the
opportunity to sincerely thank the Asian Group for
endorsing Viet Nam as the only candidate of the
continent. We are also grateful to other Member States
for their broad support.
Viet Nam is fully aware of the great honour and
heavy responsibility of being a non-permanent member
of the Security Council, a body entrusted with the
primary mission of maintaining international peace and
security. If elected, Viet Nam will fully adhere to the
purposes and principles enshrined in the United
Nations Charter and will do its utmost to cooperate
with other members to fulfil that important task.
Viet Nam will work closely with other countries
to reduce tension and to prevent and peacefully settle
conflicts in different parts of the world. We will fulfil
our obligations as a party to all major international
conventions and treaties on the non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. We condemn, and are
also committed to the elimination of, international
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and in
accordance with international law.
Viet Nam welcomes and is willing to participate
in mechanisms both within and outside the Security
Council to increase assistance aimed at the national
reconstruction and development of conflict-ridden
countries. As a nation that has experienced post-war
reconstruction and has accomplished important
achievements on its development path, Viet Nam also
wishes to share its experiences with other countries
throughout the world.
Mindful of the active role played by United
Nations peacekeeping operations, Viet Nam has made
financial contributions to and participated in a number
of United Nations activities to restore peace in various
countries. We are completing the preparatory process
for our effective participation in United Nations
peacekeeping operations, in keeping with our
circumstances and capacity.
We share the view that, if the Security Council is
to work more effectively, it must be further reformed to
achieve greater representativeness and greater
democracy in its working methods. We also support
strengthening the Council’s relationships with regional
organizations. It is therefore encouraging that, at the
present session, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and the United Nations just signed a
cooperation agreement.
I believe that, as a result of its open and
constructive foreign policy and its active contributions
to international peace and security and development
cooperation, Viet Nam will receive full support from
all Member States for its candidature for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
term 2008-2009. We will do whatever we can to fulfil
that important aspiration.
Viet Nam will always be an active, constructive,
cooperative and responsible member of the
international community, living up to the expectations
of all Member States. On behalf of the Government and
the people of Viet Nam, I express the sincere hope that
the sixty-second session of the General Assembly will
be successful, meeting the expectations of the peoples
of the world in the service of peace, security,
cooperation and development.