H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc looks for continued support, assistance and cooperation of all member countries of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly to make positive contributions to the joint efforts for a green planet of sustainable peace and development

On 07 June 2019, during the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Viet Nam was entrusted by a sweeping majority of other UN member states to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2020-2021 term of office. Within a mere of more than ten years, Viet Nam has been twice elected member of the UNSC- the UN agency with primary responsibility for international peace and security. Thisindicates the recognition by the international community of the role and status of the country that has been pursuing reform and integration. It is also the manifest trust and expectation vested into Viet Nam's responsible contributions to regional and international peace and security in the years ahead.

During its first term at the UNSC in 2008-2009, Viet Nam, with the cooperation and support of UN members,hasexerted its utmost efforts and successfully accomplished its missions. The country played an instrumental role inupholding the principles of international law and the UN Charter, easing tension, promoting cooperation, settling issues pertinent to peace and security in many regions around the world. Wealso proposed a range of concrete and meaningful initiatives on the agenda of the UNSC while contributing to improving the working method of the Security Council.

Given its foreign policy of peace, tolerance, independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of external relations, and its readiness, as a responsible and active member of international community, to contribute to the promotion of peace, security, development and progress around the world, Viet Nam has actively participated in various important multilateral organizations and forums in the region and the world, including the Francophonie, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), among others. We have successfully hosted a number of important events, including the APEC Viet Nam 2017 and World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018, which stand testimony to our ability to engage in the shaping of international and regional mechanisms. Viet Nam has also played an active part in UN peacekeeping operations, successfully deployed a Level-2 Field Hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for the first time (October 2018), and has recently hosted the second US-DPRK Summit (in February 2019), thus projecting our role, by means of mediation and conciliation, in the settlement of issues concerning international and regional peace and security.

After more than thirty years of comprehensive reform and extensive international integration, Viet Nam's standing and power has been uplifted qualitatively. The economy has sustained strong growth with its GDP averaging 6.67%/year and reaching 7.08% in 2018. The scale of our economy has been ever expanding and our people's living standard remarkably improved. Viet Nam is among the few countries that accomplished many of the United Nations’ MDG 2015 ahead of schedule, particularly in reducing poverty. Our external relations broadened and deepened as Viet Nam has established strategic and comprehensive partnerships with 28 countries, including all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Viet Nam is enjoying enormous achievements in economic and social development, and pursuing an open foreign policy of being a reliable friend and partner. This has, on the one hand, enhanced Viet Nam's image and standing among the international community, and, on the other, enabled the country to contribute in a more active and substantive manner to the conducting of political affairs of the region and the world.

We now enter the third decade of the 21st century, an era of breakthrough scientific and technological advancements and global transformation powered by the 4th Industrial Revolution. While peace, cooperation and development remain the mainstream and the ardent desire of all states and nations, the world is still faced with many challenges to peace and security. War, conflict, terrorism, poverty and underdevelopment remain pervasive in many regions. The rise of nationalism and populism, geopolitical competition among major powers, and the pursuit of power politics against international law are adversely affecting the security and development environment of states. Such global issues as terrorism, climate change, natural disasters and pandemics have well exceeded the capacity of any single state, even a superpower, and therefore require the joint efforts and cooperation of all states.

Against this backdrop, multilateralism, with the United Nations at its center, is facing both challenges and opportunities. The United Nations, the foremost being the Security Council, mandated to prevent war and conflict and to build and keep peace, and endowed with the experience of more than seventy years in existence, needs and must be able to rally all states, particularly small and medium-sized states to participate, contribute and share experience in seeking long-term and lasting solutions to the global challenges today.

Having once been a victim of war, and once stood ready to sacrifice their all for national liberation, independence and reunification, and for a peaceful environment for development, each and every Vietnamese citizen understands more than anyone the value of peace. Thus, Viet Nam is experienced, capable, and well-prepared to join in the work to address issues pertaining to international peace and security on the basis of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law.

It is our great honor and pride to receive such an exceptional endorsement of the international community to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021term. This is of special significance in implementing Viet Nam’s foreign policy charted out at the 12th Party Congress and pursues the spirit of the Directive No. 25/CT-TWdated 08 August 2018 by the Party Secretariat on promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy until 2030. Accordingly, Viet Nam will “proactively participate in and promote our role at multilateral mechanisms, particularly ASEAN and the United Nations”, contribute to maintaining and consolidating a peaceful and stable environment for national development, while fulfilling our role as a responsible member with an instrumental role in shaping a global order of peace, justice, democracy and progress. The membership also offers Viet Nam an opportunity to raise our international profile, promote our comprehensive, extensive and effective integration into the global governance system, and deepen our bilateral relations with countries and partners worldwide.It is also a chance to present to the world the friendly, dynamic and peace-loving Viet Nam and Vietnamese people; and the faith that the Vietnamese people hold for a world of multidimensional dialogue, of respect for international law, and of peace and equitable cooperation for shared development.

In 2020, the first year of her UNSC tenure, Viet Nam shall also assume the ASEAN Chairmanship. That will be a dual responsibility, and also an opportunity for Viet Nam to promote collaboration between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, including ASEAN. It is through this process that we shall make effective contribution to upholding the role of multilateralism to regional and international peace and security.

The stage is now set: with Viet Nam's new standing and new power, the keen attention and guidance of the leaders of the Party and the State, the trust and support of the people, we shall together pursue the foreign policy set by the Party and State through the innovative and flexible application of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts on international peace and cooperation: “preserving international peace means preserving the interest of our country” . Given our previous UNSC experience in 2008-2009, I have full confidence that Viet Nam is now well-poised to fulfill the noble responsibility of a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term and truly be a “Partner for Sustainable Peace”. We hope to receive the support, assistance and cooperation from UNSC and United Nations members alike. Let us together do our part for the common effort of the international community to safeguard our blue planet. May the blue flag of the United Nations remain forevermore the color of peace, of sustainability, and of our faith and hope in a bright future for all humanity./.