According to Ambassador Ngo Quang Xuan, former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and Vietnamese Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Vietnam has a solid diplomatic foundation and position.
This is a favorable opportunity to multiply the achievements of 40 years of innovation, bringing the country into an era of national growth.
At the meeting on October 7, 2024, General Secretary To Lam (then concurrently serving as President) and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to upgrade Vietnam-France relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
President Luong Cuong and Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font pose for a photo before their talks during their official visit to Chile from November 10 to 12, 2024.
As a veteran diplomat, recalling the early period of renovation and international integration, how do you feel Vietnam's foreign policy position has changed and transformed today?
I am most impressed with the number of 30 comprehensive and strategic partners that Vietnam has built within the framework of deep cooperation in politics, security, economy and trade over the past time.
Among them, Vietnam has the highest diplomatic relations with 8 countries including: China, Russian Federation, India, South Korea, United States, Japan, Australia and France.
In 2024 alone, Vietnam upgraded its strategic partnership with France in October during the visit to France by General Secretary To Lam (who was then concurrently serving as President).
Thus, we have upgraded diplomatic relations with all five permanent members of the Security Council and the world's major economic centers. This will create a strategic environment, favorable for peace and development of Vietnam.
The recent flurry of foreign affairs activities demonstrate Vietnam’s consistent, long-term policy of actively integrating and expanding international relations. All of this has created a new, very favorable step for Vietnam in terms of integration, foreign affairs as well as the country’s position.
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed and thanked Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for attending the BRICS Leaders' Meeting in October 2024.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and National Assembly Chairman Samdech Khuon Sudary during an official visit to Cambodia in November 2024.
General Secretary and President To Lam, in his speech at Columbia University, USA on September 23, 2024, affirmed that after nearly 80 years of founding the country and nearly 40 years of renovation, Vietnam is standing at a new historical starting point, a new era, an era of national development. In your opinion, what is the significance of foreign affairs in the country's overall achievements?
The great and historic achievements of the renovation process are the premise for our nation to believe in the future ahead. Among those great achievements, we cannot fail to mention the achievements in foreign affairs.
From a besieged and embargoed country, Vietnam today has diplomatic relations with 194 countries.
Vietnam is also an active member of ASEAN and more than 70 regional and international organizations, with relations with 224 markets on the continents.
We develop strong diplomatic relations with countries in the spirit of wanting to be friends, reliable partners and responsible members of the international community, working together to bring about mutual benefits and contribute to international relations.
We not only expand relations with all continents but also deepen them.
At the same time, we choose to prioritize foreign relations with countries, including neighboring countries, regions, major countries and key partners.
With each country, we can explore their bilateral relations and their role in the region, as well as their relations in other multilateral forums.
Based on this foundation, entering the new era, what should diplomacy continue to promote, sir?
With this diplomatic foundation, if we know how to combine it with current favorable opportunities, we can multiply the achievements of 40 years of innovation.
The current era is changing very strongly with many very different economic transformation models such as digital transformation, green transformation. Certainly, we must rely on that to create a breakthrough in economic development.
This requires the country to catch up with the opportunity today, combining Vietnam's capacity and internal strength with international conditions. Otherwise, if it fails to catch up, it will certainly fall further behind.
General Secretary and President To Lam with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, and Standing member of the Secretariat Luong Cuong at the 13th Party Central Committee meeting on the morning of August 3, 2024.
Besides the advantages, what challenges will we have to overcome, sir?
The world is moving strongly, unpredictable developments, intertwined with both opportunities and challenges.
First, competition between major powers is becoming more intense, the pressure to choose sides is increasing, and the world is becoming more and more fragmented.
Besides, although the world economy continues to maintain its growth momentum, it also faces many difficulties from epidemics, inflation, crises and supply chain disruptions.
The second is non-traditional security challenges. These challenges are increasingly urgent, even directly affecting the living environment of humanity.
Finally, there is the "headwind" trend of protectionism, which does not support globalization.
Ambassador Ngo Quang Xuan.
Domestically, we must innovate and make breakthroughs in terms of institutions, infrastructure and human resources to be able to access new development drivers from the world.
These are long-standing drivers but need to be put in a new context to leverage new resources.
Vietnam is located in the dynamically developing Asia Pacific region. Here, countries still support peace, cooperation, especially multilateral cooperation, and support the central role of ASEAN.
In the context of great power competition, in order to maintain a peaceful and stable environment, we must also emphasize a consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralization.
We do not choose sides but we must choose justice. Secondly, we must emphasize international law.
Finally, although we put national interests as the top core, we must share with other countries for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Thank you!
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/dat-nuoc-vuon-minh-tu-vi-the-viet-nam-192250127094142141.htm
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