Vietnam, 2014

At the outset,

I should like to extend my warmest congratulations

to Mr. Sam Kutesa on his election as President of

the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I am

confident that under his able leadership this session

will enjoy great success. My appreciation also goes to

Mr. John William Ashe, President at the sixty-eighth

session, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for their

important contributions to the work of our Organization

over the past year.

This session of the General Assembly takes place as

we approach the seventieth anniversary of the founding

of the United Nations. It gives us the opportunity to

look back on the past almost 70 years of the United

Nations implementing its mandate to assist nations

to build a world of peace, security and sustainable

development, a world where fundamental rights and

freedoms are respected and promoted. It is also an

opportunity for in-depth discussions on the formulation

and implementation of the post-2015 development

agenda.

This year’s Assembly session is also convened

against the backdrop of a world landscape that features

numerous turning points and contrasts. On the bright

side, increasingly the United Nations is playing better

its central role in the promotion of the system of

rules and norms of international law, thus facilitating

solutions to global challenges, and of the interests of

peace and development for all nations. Globalization

and multilayered economic cooperation and linkages

continue to evolve strongly. Our efforts to realize the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have brought

encouraging results in most regions.

We see also a more sombre part, one that paints the

many daunting challenges the world is facing. The trend

of cooperation contains risks, while global economic

recovery is yet to be sustainable. International peace

and security are being challenged by the negative

factor of competition and intervention and especially

by the potential escalation of territorial and sovereignty

disputes. Ongoing crises and conflicts in the Middle

East and a number of African countries have inflicted

major human and material losses and threaten regional

and international peace and security.

Global challenges remain high on the agenda of the

international community. Terrorism, the proliferation

of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear security and

safety, environmental pollution, depletion of natural

resources, climate change, natural calamities, epidemics

and the lack of food and water security are issues of

primary concern to the international community. They

require enhanced joint efforts.

Peace and security are prerequisites for sustainable

development. The United Nations and its Member

States must live up to their responsibility to strengthen

international peace and security, prevent potential

conflicts and find solutions to ongoing hostilities.

That is an urgent task, but it also requires long-term

engagement. History has taught us that the paths that lead

to wars and conflicts lie in obsolete doctrines of power

politics, of ambitions of domination and imposition, and

of the threat of force in settling international disputes,

including territorial and sovereignty disputes.

Viet Nam believes that respect for international

law is the foundation of peace, security and stability

for sustainable development. More than ever, Member

States, big or small, rich or poor, must all respect and

seriously observe the principles, rules and norms of

the Charter of the United Nations and international

law. All nations must renounce the use of force as an

option in their international relations and instead settle

all disputes by peaceful means. That is a crucial area

in which the United Nations represents a powerful

advance from the League of Nations, and it commands

greater commitment and effort from Member States.

In that spirit, Viet Nam looks forward to substantive

progress in the negotiations for a comprehensive, fair

and long-term solution for peace in the Middle East that

will ensure the fundamental rights of the Palestinian

people and the legitimate interests of all parties. We are

deeply concerned about the escalating violence in Iraq.

and we support the efforts of the Iraqi Government and

the international community to stabilize the situation.

We call for an end to unilateral economic sanctions

against developing countries and support General

Assembly resolutions on ending the economic embargo

against Cuba.

Viet Nam strongly condemns all acts of terror in

any form, especially the targeting of civilians. We

support all international efforts and initiatives to

combat that menace in accordance with international

law and the United Nations Charter. In addition, we all

have a stake in economic restructuring, job creation,

achieving a balanced, inclusive and sustained growth,

and in maintaining a peaceful and stable environment

conducive to development.

It is therefore our primary task to complete the

MDGs and formulate the post-2015 development agenda

to create added momentum for sustainable development

in each country and for international economic linkages.

In that process, the United Nations should focus more

actions and resources on addressing social injustices

and inequalities. It should provide stronger support to

regional and subregional programmes for connectivity,

poverty reduction, narrowing the development gap

and building the green economy. That will lay a firm

and long-term foundation for peace, security and

development. In so doing, and to adapt itself to a

constantly changing world, the United Nations must

accelerate its reform process in a comprehensive,

balanced, transparent and equal manner in the interests

of all Member States. The Security Council must be

reformed in both membership and working methods

to better respond to global challenges to peace and

security.

In its national socioeconomic development and in its

international integration, Viet Nam has always attached

importance to the roles of multilateral institutions

and forums, especially that of the United Nations, in

the areas of international and regional security and

development. Viet Nam is proud to be an active and

responsible member of important regional and global

organizations, such as the Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Non-Aligned Movement,

the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Asia-

Europe Meeting. Viet Nam is doubling its efforts to

achieve all MDGs and is actively participating in the

formulation of the post-2015 development agenda.

It is our consistent, principled position to respect

the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States and

to settle international disputes and conflicts, including

the issue of the East Sea, or South China Sea, by

peaceful means in accordance with international law,

including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea. Viet Nam abides by the Declaration

on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and

works to ensure an early adoption of the code of conduct

for parties in the South China Sea.

We support efforts to strengthen the multilateral

trade system to create fresh momentum for the world

economy in order to regain sustained growth. Viet Nam

is willing to join global efforts to enhance economic

linkages and reform the global economic and trade

governance towards greater equality, democracy,

transparency and efficiency.

Viet Nam and other ASEAN member States are

working hard to establish the ASEAN Community in

2015 with three pillars: political-security cooperation,

economic cooperation and social-cultural cooperation.

That, we believe, will help to build a South-East Asian

region of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity

and to form a regional architecture with ASEAN at the

centre, founded upon international law and aimed at

developing common rules and norms for the region.

To contribute to international efforts to enhance

principles and norms for peace, sustainable

development and human rights, Viet Nam is playing an

active and constructive role as a member of the Human

Rights Council. For the very first time, Viet Nam has

dispatched its military officers to the United Nations

peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Looking

forward, Viet Nam has presented its candidature for the

Economic and Social Council for the 2016-2018 term

and for the Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.

We count on the valuable support of members.

Peace and development are inseparable companions.

They complement each other on the path towards a

prosperous world. We are confident that with political

will, mutual trust and equality based on international

law and responsible joint actions, we can build stronger

partnerships for peace, cooperation and sustainable

development for all.