The last 30 years have been an important period of history in the national development process, marking comprehensive maturity of the Party, State and people. External relations work has made great contribution to the achievements during the renewal process.

ASEAN flag raising ceremony held in Hanoi on December 31st, 2015 to mark the formation of the ASEAN Community (Photo: VnExpress)

So said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son during an interview recently granted for the mass media.

According to Mr. Son, over the past 30 years, the country was freed from embargoes and normalised relations with all countries, making a profound change in the country’s international relations.

Vietnam has set up relationships with a majority of nations all over the world, including 185 of the 193 United Nations members. It has also joined 70 international and regional organizations, as an active, proactive and responsible member of the organizations.

Vietnam’s position has been raised on the international and regional arena with initiatives praised by international organizations.

Over the past several years, Vietnam has deepened partnerships. Vietnam has set up strategic partnerships with 15 partners in the world, established comprehensive partnerships with 10 countries in the world, and set up multilateral cooperative relations with traditional friends in different parts of the world.

Traditional friendships have created a foundation to deepen relations between Vietnam and foreign countries in economics, trade and investment; and to get support and assistance from international friends in national development, as well as in the struggle for protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During the renewal process, external relations work has played a key and leading role in promoting economic development and attracting outside resources for a stronger renewal process.

So far, Vietnam has attracted USD270 billion from foreign investment projects and taken advantage of official development assistance (ODA) funding from foreign countries. In addition, non-governmental cooperation and assistance has helped to boost poverty reduction and narrow the gap of development among parts of the country.

Besides, external relations work has helped to reinforce national sovereignty and territorial integrity, build up peaceful and friendly border lines with neighbouring countries, complete land border demarcation and marker planting with Laos and China, and achieve positive results in land border demarcation and marker planting with Cambodia.

Vietnam has signed treaties on sea demarcation with China in the Gulf of Tonkin, as well as with Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia; drastically struggled against actions violating national sovereignty and territorial integrity; and actively found peaceful measures to address disputes with countries.

In terms of multilateral external relations, Vietnam has gained very important achievements. From being isolated by embargo and only having relationships with socialist countries, Vietnam has gradually expanded cooperative relations with a majority of countries all over the world.

Joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has made responsible contributions to building the association and to the official formation of the ASEAN Community on December 31^st, 2015.

Vietnam has joined other forums such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and United Nations organizations, earning the country an increasingly important role in the region and getting respect from the international community.

Vietnam was elected, with a high rate of votes in favour, to important United Nations’ agencies such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The external relations work has also helped to support and protect overseas Vietnamese, confirming that the Vietnamese community abroad is an indispensable part of the Vietnamese people.

Regarding the external relations work in 2016, Deputy Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that the work would creatively implement external relations orientations set in the 12^th National Party Congress resolution.

He noted that the sector would increase the efficiency of external relations activities, actively promote international integration to realise the targets of maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for economic development; consistently and patiently struggle to reinforce the national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and increase the friendship and cooperative relations with foreign countries./.

( Compiled by VNF )