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Vietnam’s Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu and Chief Representative of the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam Pierre Du Ville attended the conference.

The event was held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam on October 8 in Hanoi (Photo: ttdn.vn)

Towards the peaceful and developed borders, seas, and islands

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu emphasized in his speech that the borders, both on land and at sea, determine the space for the survival and development of countries, and demonstrate the sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction of countries under international law.

Nguyen Minh Vu believed the key factors to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development as well as to build long-term friendly relations between relevant countries include the clear demarcation of borders and effective management and cooperation based on the provisions of international law.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu spoke at the event (Photo: ttdn.vn).

"In the current context, the international order and common interests of many countries and the international community not only have to face disputes over both territorial and maritime sovereignty and complex and worrying developments from these disputes, but also face many non-traditional challenges such as climate change, marine environmental pollution, depletion of resources and transnational crime," said Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu.

These issues not only profoundly affect the security and sustainable development of each country, but also impact the security and development of the region and the world.

Vietnam has over 5,000 km of land borders and 3,260 km of coastline. On land, Vietnam has completed the planning and demarcation of landmarks with China and Laos; has completed the planning of the entire land border with Cambodia, and at the same time demarcated and planted 84% of the land border.

At sea, Vietnam has successfully negotiated and signed many delimitation agreements with neighboring countries, such as: resolving the issue of maritime delimitation in the Gulf of Thailand with Thailand in 1997, delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin with China in 2000, delimitation of the continental shelf in 2003 and exclusive economic zone in 2022 with Indonesia.

The country conducts border cooperation with many countries inside and outside the region with the aim of maintaining peace, stability, development, ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight and solving non-communication maritime security challenges in the South China Sea.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu believed this is the result of the spirit of cooperation mainly through peace and goodwill negotiations based on international law. It will be a premise for strengthening friendly relations, maintaining peace and stability, creating a favorable environment for cooperation and sustainable development cooperation with neighboring countries. Regarding the border issues, Vietnam is continuing to make efforts with relevant countries to solve them on the basis of international law.

Important role of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

In his speech, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu addressed said that the South China Sea, with its strategic position in terms of economy and security, is currently at the center of many major challenges in traditional and non-traditional security.

In addressing these challenges, international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), plays an extremely important role as a comprehensive and universal legal framework for all activities at sea and ocean.

As one of the pioneers in the signing and implementation of UNCLOS, Viet Nam is committed to respecting and applying the provisions of UNCLOS to resolve maritime issues, to work with the international community to protect and maintain an international legal order on the seas and oceans based on UNCLOS, to encourage development and cooperation, as affirmed by the National Assembly of Vietnam in the Resolution to ratify UNCLOS on June 23, 1994.

The valuable knowledge and experience shared in the workshop will help nurture and promote deeper international cooperation to contribute to maintaining peace and sustainable development in the region and the world, he shared.

Chief Representative of the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam Pierre Du Ville spoke at the event (Photo: ttdn.vn).

In his remarks, Pierre Du Ville, Chief Representative of the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam, said that the conference aims to strengthen the capacity of partners in the field of border demarcation and management.

It also strives to the realization of a sustainable development goal can be seen as the cornerstone of the world today, and at a time when conflicts are still being resolved, or unfortunately resolved by force instead of dialogue. Sustainable Development Goal 16 on maintaining justice, maintaining peace, and strengthening institutions for this goal.

Pierre Du Ville emphasized that the central object of this project is extremely important. The South China Sea, a strategic crossroads of Southeast Asia, has been at the center of Vietnam's concerns for centuries. The geostrategic importance of the South China Sea continues to grow and become a major issue for the entire region.

Today, these issues have both legal and economic elements. On the one hand, different interpretations of the international law of the sea have complicated efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully. On the other hand, the South China Sea's rich natural resources – oil and gas and aquatic resources – play a central role in important economic issues. In addition, security on commercial sea lanes is also vital to the economy of Vietnam and the region.

The foreign diplomat welcomed Vietnam becoming 'an example' in terms of prioritizing diplomatic measures and bilateral dialogue with neighboring countries, as well as actively participating in regional forums, especially within ASEAN, to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes.

This cooperation project strives to make a small contribution to the search for solutions and hopes to maintain an effective partnership between the National Border Committee and the Free University of Brussels will once again be evident at the meeting of the Standing Joint Committee in Brussels next November, with the aim of establishing the next cooperation program 2025-2027.

PM: Vietnamese Abroad Vital to National Progress The Prime Minister acknowledged and appreciated the important contributions of the overseas Vietnamese community to the homeland.

Vietnamese Intellectuals Abroad Unite for National Development Party General Secretary and State President To Lam emphasized that the Party and State of Vietnam consider overseas Vietnamese an integral part of the nation.