Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Ngo Huong Nam has suggested the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) support Vietnam in improving the country’s capability through the agency’s training activities, VNA reported.

At a recent meeting with OPCW General Director Fernando Arias in The Hague, Nam called on the OPCW to provide Vietnam with new or used chemical analysis equipment when upgrading the Centre for Chemistry and Technology (Chemtech) to help Vietnam improve the capacity of its laboratories.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Ngo Huong Nam presents his credentials to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Photo: VNA

The diplomat, who came to present his credentials to the OPCW, also proposed the organization consider recruiting Vietnamese staff to work at the OPCW and Chemtech, affirming that he will do his utmost to maintain and further foster relations between the OPCW and Vietnam.

Nam said 2023 is a particularly significant year for the OPCW, marked by a series of important events, including a conference to review its operations over the past five years and the inauguration of Chemtech.

According to Nam, OPCW member states completed the destruction of declared chemical weapons, marking a significant milestone for the organization as it is shifting its mission of destruction to preempting the production, storage, and use of chemical weapons.

For his part, Arias welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Ngo Huong Nam as Vietnam’s permanent representative to the OPCW, expressing his belief that Nam would fulfill his mission effectively, contributing positively to the relationship between the two countries in general, and between Vietnam and the OPCW in particular.

He acknowledged Nam’s proposals and mentioned the possibility of providing chemical analysis equipment for laboratories in Vietnam.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the OPCW, with its 193 member states, oversees the global endeavor to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the CWC’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. Vietnam is one of the early members of the Convention and has consistently participated fully and actively in the OPCW.

So far, the OPCW has been operating for 26 years and member countries have destroyed more than 99% of the declared chemical weapons under its control. The OPCW also has built a technical center named Centre ChemTech that features modern laboratories and inaugurated it on May 12.

This center, which invested over EUR 34.6 million (USD 37.5 million), comes as a result of the OPCW’s enormous efforts and voluntary contributions from 57 member countries, the EU, and some organizations and individuals.

ChemTech will not only serve as a laboratory of the OPCW but also help improve the organization’s technical capability in the face of scientific and technological development as well as the world situation.

It will gather and coordinate efforts by scientists, universities, research institutes, civil society and industrial organizations, and related international organizations while becoming a training center for countries, especially developing ones, to build the capacity for CWC implementation.

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