Vietnam, 1994

First, allow me, on behalf of the

delegation of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, to

congratulate you warmly, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth

session. I am confident that, under your guidance and

with the active contributions of member countries, this

session of the General Assembly will have a successful

outcome. I also wish to take this opportunity to express

our admiration for the efficient performance of your

predecessor, Mr. Samuel R. Insanally. We greatly

appreciate the great efforts made by Mr. Boutros-Ghali in

his high post as Secretary-General of the United Nations

in the cause of peace, national independence and

development.

5

The United Nations is approaching the final year of its

first half century of existence. The most appropriate way

for us to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the

Organization is to help it act in a manner commensurate

with its global role and with the important, difficult and

complex tasks set out by the new world situation. Since

the last session of the General Assembly, we have

witnessed immense and profound changes in the world as

a whole and in each region. Mankind is confronted by both

opportunities and challenges. It is the task of each country

and of the international community as a whole to realize the

noble aspirations of mankind, to overcome the obstacles to

settling global and pressing issues and to promote peace,

cooperation and development.

The world panorama is full of contradictions. While

the threat of a destructive world war has been further

checked, ethnic, religious and territorial conflicts continue

to persist or even multiply in a number of regions. Against

this disturbing backdrop, there have been some rays of hope

that certain conflicts in the world will be settled. The

success of the struggle waged by the South African people

to abolish apartheid and establish a new united, democratic

and non-racist State in South Africa constitutes a historic

achievement for the South African people, the United

Nations and the world community. The Vietnamese

delegation warmly welcomes the delegation of the new

South Africa to the General Assembly.

In the Middle East, encouraging progress has been

made, particularly between Palestine and Israel and between

Jordan and Israel, in the negotiating process and the search

for peace. These developments foster hopes of reaching a

just and lasting peace in the region and of restoring the

Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and an

independent State in their own land.

Over the past year there have been certain positive

developments in the world economy. In a number of

countries there have been signs of recovery. Globalism and

regionalism have accelerated. Economic competition is

acute and, in this context, the developing countries continue

to bear innumerable disadvantages. A considerable number

of these developing countries, however, are beset by

poverty and backwardness; with every passing day millions

of people are threatened by starvation. The developing

countries hope that, with the conclusion of the Uruguay

Round and the decision to establish the World Trade

Organization, trade and investment will be expanded, thus

strongly enhancing international economic cooperation on

the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

They cannot, however, help being worried about

attempts to use social and environmental issues as fuel for

protectionism. This will affect the common sentiments

amongst the world’s nations at a time when joint efforts

are needed to solve global issues in the interests of the

development and advancement of every nation and of the

entire international community.

In an increasingly interdependent world in which

globalism is being strengthened, there is continuous

pressure to facilitate increased cooperation on the basis of

equal and mutual benefit and to narrow the gap between

the level of development of the North and that of the

South with a view to securing sustainable and lasting

peace throughout the world.

We therefore welcome the Secretary-General’s

initiative in producing his "Agenda for Development".

We believe that through wide consultations between

Member States we shall arrive at an agenda that responds

to common demands and will ensure that the United

Nations plays an active role in facilitating economic and

social development and the eradication of poverty in

Member countries, thereby strengthening the

Organization’s important role in international economic

relations.

We share the view - expressed by many

delegations - that the maintenance of international peace

and security and the promotion of development are the

two paramount tasks of the United Nations. It is our

hope that the role of the United Nations in the field of

development will be strengthened in response to the

expectation of the countries of the world.

There is an increasingly irresistible trend towards

dialogue and international and regional cooperation. In

our view, international cooperation should be based on

observance of the principles of respect for independence

and national sovereignty, non-interference in the internal

affairs of other States, mutually beneficial cooperation on

the basis of equality, the settling of disputes through

negotiation and without recourse to force or the threat of

force. In today’s world of increasing awareness of

national independence, respect for the right of nations

freely to determine their own course of development and

to maintain their national identity is an essential condition

for the maintenance of peace and stability and for the

strengthening of international cooperation.

Blockades, embargoes, sanctions and the imposition

of conditions in international relations are relics of the

6

past. They run counter to the aspirations of peoples and to

the common trend and are contrary to international law.

In this connection, we wish to express our deep

sympathy with the Cuban people in respect of their current

difficulties. We demand an end to the economic,

commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba. We

demand also prompt and effective implementation of the

relevant resolutions of the General Assembly. We welcome

the joint communiqué recently signed by the United States

of America and Cuba on the question of Cuban emigrés.

We hope that the two countries will continue their dialogue

with a view to settling other outstanding differences

between them.

At a time of opportunities and challenges, of hope and

fear, the United Nations bears, more than ever, a heavy

responsibility in regard to the maintenance of international

peace and security. Never before has the United Nations

been directly engaged in dealing with so many hotbeds of

tension throughout the world. Despite the Organization’s

efforts, satisfactory solutions to the conflicts in Bosnia,

Somalia and Rwanda have yet to be found.

The tendency to resort more and more to measures of

enforcement and intervention to try to resolve intra-State

conflicts has prompted legitimate concern among many

countries. We share the view that United Nations

peace-keeping operations should strictly observe the

principles of respect for national sovereignty and territorial

integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of other

States. We believe that the best way to secure the peaceful

settlement of conflicts is to persevere with dialogue.

Lessons should be learnt from the successes and the failures

of peace-keeping operations in recent times. This would

help the United Nations the better to discharge the tasks

that the Member States as a whole have entrusted to it.

The complex world situation and the increasingly

important role of the United Nations urgently require

restructuring of the Organization. In view of the growing

democratization of international relations, we join those

delegations that are demanding reform to democratize the

United Nations system. This would include an increase in

the membership of the Security Council to make it more

representative, more in keeping with the changes that have

taken place in the world and more transparent in its

decision-making processes. Revitalization of the work of

the General Assembly as the body most representative of

the interests of Member States is also necessary.

Through the convening of international conferences,

such as the recent International Conference on Population

and Development, the coming World Conference on

Women and the World Summit for Social Development,

the United Nations has clearly demonstrated its

commitment to the promotion of international cooperation

in the resolution of global social issues of vital interest to

all nations.

I should like to mention in this important forum a

particularly significant coincidence of history. As the

United Nations prepares to celebrate its fiftieth

anniversary, the Vietnamese people are looking forward

enthusiastically to commemorating the fiftieth anniversary

of President Ho Chi Minh’s solemn declaration to the

entire world of the birth of an independent, free and

democratic Viet Nam. Only now, half a century after its

birth, is Viet Nam able to really concentrate its efforts on

socio-economic development.

Located in the most dynamic development zone in

the world, Viet Nam is fully aware of the danger

constituted by the widening gap between its level of

development and that of other countries of the region. It

has therefore set itself the urgent task of rapidly

overcoming its state of poverty and underdevelopment in

order to join the stream of progress and development in

the region and in the world. Viet Nam has embarked

upon the path of reform and renewal in every sphere of

its society’s life. The core of this reform and renewal is

the development of a multi-sector economy operating

through a market mechanism and employing State

regulation at the macro-economic level with a view to

maintaining the country’s socio-economic stability, along

with the step-by-step establishment of a state of law of

the people, by the people and for the people.

The reform and renewal process has achieved

important initial results. The average annual growth rate

of our gross national product for the three years from

1991 to 1993 was 7.3 per cent; for the first six months of

this year, the rate rose to 8 per cent. Our international

economic cooperation and trade relations and foreign

investment in our country have grown rapidly. Our

people’s living conditions have been improved. Further

progress has been made in the cultural, social, educational

and health-care areas, especially regarding the care of

children.

Along with economic reforms, Viet Nam has

gradually carried out the reform and renewal of its

political system in order to build a society in which the

7

rights of each and every one will be increasingly ensured.

We continue to move forward in our efforts to establish a

state of law, perfect the legal system and undertake national

administrative reform. After the promulgation of the new

Constitution in 1992, our National Assembly adopted a

number of important laws, including the civil law, the

labour law, the land law, and the law on the promotion of

domestic investment.

With these achievements, Viet Nam is now shifting

towards a new stage in its development - that of the

industrialization and modernization of the country. This

long and arduous process has as its final objective a

prosperous people, a strong nation and an equitable and

civilized society.

To create a favourable international environment for

national construction and development, Viet Nam has been

pursuing a foreign policy of openness, diversification, and

multilateralization of its relations, while carrying out our

desire to become the friend of all countries in the interest

of peace, independence and development. We are pleased

to note that our policy is developing in complete harmony

with the general trend throughout the world, and especially

in South-East Asia - that is, the trend towards pursuing

peace and cooperation in the interest of development, after

decades of war and confrontation. In its implementation of

this foreign policy, Viet Nam gives first priority to

enhancing the relations of friendship and cooperation with

neighbouring countries in the region, and to creating peace,

stability, cooperation and development in South-East Asia.

Our bilateral relations with each of the members of the

Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and

with the Association itself, are experiencing rapid and

satisfactory growth, primarily in the economic and

commercial areas, particularly since Viet Nam became an

ASEAN observer in 1992. At the ministerial Conference

of ASEAN held in Bangkok last July, the ASEAN Foreign

Ministers unanimously supported Viet Nam’s full

membership in this Association. With the increased support

of the ASEAN countries, Viet Nam is actively preparing to

take all the necessary steps to join this Association as a full

member. Viet Nam’s accession to ASEAN is in conformity

with the general trend towards responding to the interests

of the countries of the region and reinforcing regional

cooperation, especially in the economic and commercial

areas, and at the same time facilitates the expansion of our

relations with other countries and international organizations.

In keeping with the new regional context, all 10

countries of South-East Asia recently participated, for the

first time, in the Conference of foreign ministers of

ASEAN; an ASEAN Regional Forum, at which regional

security was discussed, was also held for the first time on

25 July last in Bangkok. All this demonstrates the

growing cooperation in South-East Asia, as well as the

robust movement towards the attainment of the common

goals of the region: peace, stability and security.

In order to ensure the peace, stability and

development of each country and of the region as a

whole, Viet Nam is of the view that the countries of the

region should consolidate existing points of agreement,

narrow differences and settle disputes, including those

regarding the Eastern Sea, through bilateral and

multilateral negotiations among those parties directly

concerned, without resorting to the use or threat of force.

While waiting and working for a fundamental and durable

solution, all the parties concerned should restrain from

any act that might further complicate the situation, and at

the same time strictly respect each country’s right of

sovereignty on the continental shelf and in the exclusive

economic zones, in keeping with international law and

particularly with the 1982 United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea.

With regard to the Kingdom of Cambodia, Viet Nam

ardently wishes to see its neighbour become an

independent, peaceful, neutral, non-aligned country,

maintaining friendly relations with all countries. It is Viet

Nam’s policy to strengthen good-neighbourly relations

with the Kingdom of Cambodia and to respect the

Cambodian people’s right to self-determination. We

consider that all signatories to the Paris Agreement on

Cambodia are bound to scrupulously observe that

Agreement, to refrain from interfering in that country’s

internal affairs and to actively contribute to the process of

national reconciliation and the restoration of peace and

stability in Cambodia.

In the interest of maintaining and strengthening the

traditional friendly relations between Viet Nam and

Cambodia and of protecting the legitimate rights of the

Vietnamese residents who have been, for many

generations, living in Cambodia, we wish to draw

attention to the Immigration Law promulgated by the

National Assembly of Cambodia on 26 August 1994.

Certain articles of that Law have given rise to some

concern. His Royal Highness King Norodom Sihanouk

and the Royal Government of Cambodia share the

legitimate concern of the Government of Viet Nam and

have undertaken to avoid any regrettable consequences

and agreed to begin negotiations with Vietnam soon to

settle this problem.

8

The lifting by the United States of the embargo

imposed upon Viet Nam has opened up new prospects for

building and broadening multi-faceted cooperation between

our two countries in the interests of the two peoples and in

the service of peace, stability, cooperation and development

in the region and throughout the world.

We firmly believe that multilateral relations, especially

within the framework of the United Nations, are playing an

increasingly important role in international life. As we

move towards the commemoration of the fiftieth

anniversary of the founding of our Organization, we shall

be reviewing all the activities of the past 50 years, drawing

the necessary lessons to enhance the capacity and

effectiveness of the United Nations system and to pursue

tasks worthy of the confidence and expectations of the

peoples of the world. For its modest part, Viet Nam will

unceasingly strive to make positive contributions to the

common cause of the United Nations for peace,

development and social progress throughout the world.