Vietnam, 2025

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Luong Kong, State President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I request Protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Madam President, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Madam Annalena Baerbock on her election as President of the 18th Session of the UN General Assembly. I am fully confident that with her experience and able leadership, this session will be a great success. I would also like to pay tribute to Mr. Philemon Young, President of the 79th Session, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for their contributions. Madam President, over the past 80 years, in spite of a multitude of challenges, the UN has stood as the embodiment of humanity's aspiration and collective commitment to peace, cooperation, and development grounded in the universal values of human rights, national independence, equality, democracy, and social progress. Multilateral cooperation has brought forth remarkable achievements, especially in preventing wars, fostering peace and cooperation, building friendships, reducing poverty and curbing diseases, improving living standards, and advancing science and technology at an unprecedented pace. Yet today, we find ourselves in a profoundly changing world facing unprecedented acute challenges. Local wars, conflicts, arms races, and the use or threat of force in international relations are escalating at an alarming rate. Non-traditional security challenges are exerting heavy tolls on all countries and communities. The global governance, trading, and economic systems are becoming fragmented and volatile. Multilateralism itself is under strain from strategic rivalry among major powers, unilateralism, and a sharp decline in political will and necessary resources. This is precisely the time to stand united and together promote the irreplaceable role of multilateralism and a rules-based international order, with the UN at its heart. Madam President, As a nation that has endured immense pain and losses from wars, Vietnam treasures more than most the priceless values of peace. The spirit of peace, amity, compassion, and altruism is deeply woven into our national identity. This forms the bedrock for us to overcome previous sufferings, mend old wounds, shove the past, and look towards the future with the hope to become a friend and reliable partner to all nations around the world. Peace is both the goal and the prerequisite for our journey towards a stable, just, democratic, and prosperous future. Honouring the value of peace and driving robust transformation for a sustainable future is the sincere message that Vietnam wishes to share with the international community on the occasion of the UN's 18th anniversary. In this spirit, allow me to share my reflections as follows. First, honouring the value of peace requires concrete actions rather than just words. We must reaffirm the role and primacy of international law as the cornerstone for peace and equal relations among nations. All countries should clearly demonstrate their responsibility towards upholding international law and the UN Charter, and respecting such principles as independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference, non-use or threat of force, and peaceful settlement of disputes. Vietnam welcomes recent efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation which have yielded important results in many regions, such as the peace agreements between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We value and support all diplomatic efforts, and hope that they will lead to peaceful solutions to regional and global security issues. We must nurture and practice a culture of peace by building trust, enhancing international cooperation and solidarity, promoting dialogue, listening and understanding, respecting differences, and cultivating friendship among nations. On this occasion, Vietnam calls for ceasefires and an end to all acts of violence, protection of civilians, and facilitation of humanitarian access in conflict zones. Vietnam welcomes the recent recognition of the State of Palestine by more countries, and urges the international community to act swiftly to end the humanitarian crisis faced by the Palestinian people. We also reaffirm our solidarity with the State and people of Cuba, and call upon the United States to lift its embargoes against Cuba, and remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. We must further promote the role of regional organizations in promoting peace, cooperation, and development. International efforts for peace and development will be truly effective when driven by regional organizations in line with the particularities of each region and country. As an active ASEAN member state, Vietnam is proud of ASEAN's growing strength and its centrality in the Asia-Pacific's security and development architecture. Most recently, ASEAN contributed to the ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, and we are committed to upholding ASEAN's core values of solidarity, consensus, and unity in diversity, building a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable ASEAN community, and effectively implementing the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. We shall also strive to maintain peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, particularly the UNCLOS 1982, while fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties and working to finalize the Code of Conduct in the area. Second, in a world at a historic crossroads, we must transform boldly to shape a sustainable future. Global governance institutions, particularly the UN and international monetary and financial bodies, must undergo vigorous reforms to become more adaptive, ensure equitability, transparency, coherence and efficiency in their operations, and better respond to the needs of all countries and peoples. Vietnam welcomes and supports efforts to reform the UN, including the UNAT Initiative, to build an UN 2.0 that is leaner, more coherent, effective, and efficient. This initiative must follow a holistic and integrated approach, being driven by Member States. Vietnam stands ready to share its experience in successfully implementing the Delivering as One initiative of UN organizations in the country. We must build sustainable development models based on digital transformation and green transition, two mutually reinforcing drivers that can spark a sweeping revolution, as they stand for convergence of scientific and technological advancements and environmental sustainability. To optimize this dual transformation, countries must formulate relevant master plans, invest strongly in R&D, train high-quality human resources, and develop green technology infrastructure. Furthermore, it is of great importance to advance international cooperation on technology transfer and mobilization of green finance to ensure that no one is left behind. Developed countries must take responsibility in sharing and transferring technology to developing and underdeveloped countries. In this digital era, societies are undergoing transformation of an unprecedented pace, scope, and depth, accompanied by rising challenges such as poverty, inequality, unemployment, and a crisis of information and trust. We must ensure that social transformation remains a human-centered process, with focus on such priorities as comprehensively eradicating poverty, providing full and decent employment, and ensuring social justice and inclusion. Vietnam hopes that the Second World Summit for Social Development this November will deliver important outcomes and add momentum to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Madam President, From the ruins of wars once poor, outdated, and isolated, Vietnam has made historic progress. We now enjoy diplomatic relations with 194 countries, strategic and comprehensive partnerships with 38 nations, and membership in over 70 international organizations. Vietnam is now among the world's 32 largest economies and top 20 trading nations. The lives of over 100 million Vietnamese citizens have vastly improved, with a sharp drop in multidimensional poverty rate. We have met the Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule, and are striving to fulfill international commitments and are on course toward two strategic centennial goals, becoming a modern, industrialized, upper-middle-income developing country by 2030, and a developed high-income nation by 2045. On behalf of the State and people of Vietnam, I express heartfelt gratitude to the UN and its agencies, member states, and partners who have been working with us and supported us on this journey of development. Guided by the spirit of self-reliance, resilience, and solidarity for the common cause, Vietnam pursues an independent, self-reliant foreign policy for peace, cooperation, and development, while diversifying and multilateralizing our external relations, and strive to further expand and deepen our international integration in a more proactive manner, with a strong commitment to being a friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community. Vietnam will continue to make every effort and stand with all nations to shoulder our shared responsibilities, overcome challenges, and foster transformative changes to build a world of peace, stability, prosperity, and sustainability, delivering happiness and well-being to all. Vietnam is actively preparing to assume the presidency of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2026, and we look forward to the valuable support of member states for our candidacies to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term, and to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for the 2026-2035 term. We particularly look forward to welcoming you all to Hanoi on the 25th of October for the signing ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime. I thank you. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the State President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.