Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN. VNAVNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – One of Việt Nam’s top priorities in its agenda as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2020-2021 is to strengthen the role of regional and sub-regional organisations, Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý told the Vietnam News Agency on Thursday.

Quý, who is also Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, made the statement following an April 29 meeting to review Vietnam’s rotating month-long UNSC presidency in April.

During the first time serving as UNSC President last year, Việt Nam successfully hosted an open debate on partnership between the UN and ASEAN, he said.

Another virtual debate on beefing up cooperation between the UN and regional organisations during the second presidency assumption was a concrete action to fulfil Việt Nam’s commitment, he noted, adding that it also provided a chance to promote the image of ASEAN.

Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has been highly regarded as a grouping very successful in building trust and fostering dialogue, he explained.

As UNSC President in April, Việt Nam put forward four initiatives, three of which adopted two presidential statements and one resolution, the Vietnamese ambassador said.

He held that these initiatives have profound influence on perception of the international community on the importance of a certain issue and create new pushes for the international community to come up with measures for the issue.

Compared to last year’s presidency, this time, Việt Nam has emerged as one of few countries able to fulfilling the twin goals of maintaining positive economic growth and keeping the COVID-19 at bay, he continued. This has helped the country propose initiatives with greater confidence and become more proactive in organising consultations, he added.

According to Quý, Việt Nam’s successful assumption of the role as President of the UNSC in April is a vivid demonstration of the implementation of the foreign policy set out in the 13th National Party Congress at this important multilateral forum. In addition, during the month, Việt Nam performed well an orientation put forth at the congress which is to deepen the country’s bilateral relationship with all countries inside and outside the UNSC, especially those under the council’s discussions in April.

“We have had a very good relationship with those countries, paid attention to their issues, held dialogues with them and left very good impressions on our bilateral relations with them,” he said.

The ambassador went on to say that Việt Nam’s greatest achievement when joining the UNSC is to maintain its reputation as well as promote its prestige and image in the hearts of international friends. Therefore, in the remaining eight months of its tenure and beyond, Việt Nam will continue efforts to contribute to the general work of the council and the UN General Assembly as a whole. VNS