Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung highlighted new and important points in Vietnam’s foreign policies in the new tenure as outlined in the documents submitted to the 13th National Party Congress in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency.

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung

The documents of the 13th National Congress noted that foreign affairs in all three pillars – Party’s external relations, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy – have contributed to remarkable achievements of the country, Trung said.

Vietnam has improved the effectiveness, and further expanded and deepened relations with many international partners, he said, noting that the country has so far increased the number of strategic and comprehensive strategic partners to 30, including all permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and most members of the world’s major political and economic blocs, especially neighbouring countries.

Vietnam has also maintained territorial integrity and national sovereignty and made many concrete steps forward in settling border issues. Vietnam has completed border delimitation for over 5,000km land borderline it shares with all three neighbouring countries – Laos, Cambodia and China, he noted, adding that border demarcation and marker planting work has completed for the borders with Laos and China while it has been 84% done along the border with Cambodia.

The country has made the most of the opportunities brought by international integration to bolster socio-economic development, as seen in attracting foreign investment, boosting trade and tourism and accessing scientific-technological advances while maintaining national independence, particularly self-sustenance in economy.

According to the Deputy FM, over the previous years, Vietnam has also promoted cultural diplomacy to promote the country internationally while absorbing the essence of global cultures. Diplomacy also helped address arising problems relating to overseas Vietnamese, thus protecting legitimate rights of Vietnamese people overseas.

The documents affirmed Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, peace, cooperation and development; being a responsible and trusted friend and partner of the international community; promoting multilateralisation and diversification of external relations; and ensuring national interests based on international law and equality among countries. The diplomatic sector is assigned the task of playing the pioneering role in creating and maintaining a peaceful environment favourable for national renewal and development, thus enhancing the country’s position.

The documents clearly state that foreign affairs must base on three pillars: Party’s external relations, State diplomacy and People-to-people diplomacy.

One of the new points in the documents focuses on improving the effectiveness of and deepening bilateral relations and enhancing multilateral diplomacy.

Regarding the protection of border territories, sovereignty, sovereignty of sea and islands, Deputy Minister Trung said the goal of Vietnam's foreign policy is to maintain a peaceful and stable environment for the country's development, to make the best use of favourable conditions for the Doi Moi cause and socio-economic development, thus elevating the position of Vietnam in the international arena and contributing to the common work of the international community.

The most important goal is to firmly and persistently maintain national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. This goal has been put at the top position in the foreign policy of Vietnam throughout many Party congresses as well as at the 13th Congress.

On the issue of sovereignty protection, including land and sea border and territories, many very important tasks have been and are being carried out, involving the implementation of the agreements signed between Vietnam and China, Laos and Cambodia relating to border demarcation and mark planting; the management of border marks and border gates, and others. According to the official, Vietnam both promotes socio-economic development and coordinates with countries sharing the land borders to combat all forms of crime, ensuring security and safety in border areas.

The Deputy Foreign Minister suggested intensifying connectivity between border regions with other regions nationwide and upgrade infrastructure there.

For the border at sea, Vietnam and other countries share the East Sea and other international waters, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), he said, noting that under the convention, countries bordering the East Sea have the same interests and cooperation.

Vietnam’s consistent policy is to work with countries involved to address disputes in the East Sea peacefully in conformity with the UNCLOS and international law, stated Trung.