Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, head of the Vietnam Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) for 2014-2018, has said there are reasons for Vietnam to be optimistic about its run for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, head of the Vietnam Permanent Mission
to the UN for 2014-2018 (Photo: VNA)

On June 7, the UN General Assembly will vote to choose five members for the position, with Vietnam the only representative in Asia-Pacific. 

Nga said Vietnam’s nomination for the position on May 25, 2018, 13 months before the voting, was unprecedented, showing regional countries’ support and trust for Vietnam. This helped make it easier for Vietnam to rally support from UN member states in other regions. 

According to her, Vietnam is a bright example and admired by international friends for its heroic struggle for national independence, human rights, growth and its love for peace. 

The country has made achievements in its external policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of ties. Its active role in ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the UN has also helped foster bilateral ties with major countries, she said. 

She added that Vietnam is widely seen as an active and responsible member of the UN that supports multilateralisation, follows the UN Charter and international law and joins the UN’s major policymaking agencies, thus making a lot of contributions to the organisation. 

UN member countries also trust Vietnam’s capability and role in international security. 

The Southeast Asian country makes active contributions to important issues such as disarmament, the ban on nuclear weapon proliferation, and counter-terrorism, and has experience in dealing with ASEAN internal and regional issues and fulfilled its intermediary role in addressing disputes by peaceful means.