15th East Sea Conference “Luminate the Grey, Light Up the Green” opened in Ho Chi Minh City: An overview. (Photo: VNA)

Emeritus Professor Carl Thayer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) at the Australian Defence Force Academy said that Vietnam has tailored the conferences increasingly to focus on issues of concern to the international community, and the conferences help participants learn more and go deeper into various issues in the waters.

Meanwhile, Professor Rober Beckman from the National University of Singapore’s Centre for International Law described the conference as useful and interesting with a lot of important discussions held.

Delegates, especially those from Europe and outside Southeast Asia, all want to gain better understanding about the difficulties and challenges with respect to the East Sea dispute.

With a view to illuminating the grey zone and lighting up the blue, he said it will be useful to continue to have discussions about the grey zone, and have people analyse not only what’s happening in Southeast Asia, but also what’s happing in other parts of Asia.

Earlier, in his opening remarks at the conference, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet said the East Sea Conference series has provided an open, candid, friendly environment for regional and international experts to come together to advance mutual understanding, and narrow differences.

15th East Sea Conference “Luminate the Grey, Light Up the Green” opened in Ho Chi Minh City: Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet speaks at the event. (Photo: WVR)

The Deputy Foreign Minister said he hopes that in the next 15 years, the dialogue will further evolve into a key region-wide maritime security forum, one that is open, inclusive and innovative in nature, a meeting point and hub of interests spanning from the “Indo” to the “Pacific” and beyond.

Deputy Foreign Minister Viet held that the global center of gravity continues to shift toward the Indo-Pacific, which is becoming the “Epicentrum” of global growth and a key locomotive for global recovery and future prosperity. But this future cannot be guaranteed without sustained peace and stability, including in the regional maritime domain, he stressed.

The Conference has contributed to promoting transparency, building a network of experts, and creating a platform to discuss regional issues.

Only maritime cooperation can help countries change the East Sea from grey to blue towards peace and sustainable development, he said, adding it is necessary to strictly follow international laws, including 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).