In his New Year interview with Viet Nam News Agency, Minh said that external activities will focus on developing relations between Viet Nam and its partners in a broader and more effective manner, and accelerate the building of the ASEAN community.

Viet Nam will actively participate in regional and international forums to deal with global challenges, he noted.

The minister stressed that by protecting firmly national security and territorial sovereignty, and building peaceful and stable borders with neighbouring countries, will contribute to maintaining peace, stability, maritime freedom, security and safety in the region.

“We will also promote economic and cultural diplomacy, overseas Vietnamese affairs and the protection of citizens, as well as drastically improve foreign news service,” he added.

According to Minh, the Vietnamese Party and State’s 2012 external activities were implemented effectively, taking advantage of favourable international conditions for socio-economic development, maintaining national security, defending independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and improving the country’s role in the region and the world.

Viet Nam’s relations with countries, especially priority partners and traditional friends, were deepened, he said. 2012 marked the success of the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year and the Viet Nam-Cambodia Friendship Year, he added.

The first Viet Nam-Latin America Trade and Investment Forum was successfully organised in the country, creating a momentum for cooperation between Viet Nam and the region with a lot of potential, Minh said.

The minister hailed Viet Nam’s active and proactive international integration in both policy making and implementation.

He highlighted the active implementation of land border management agreements with China as well as the upgrading of border markers with Laos and border demarcation and marker planting with Cambodia.

Regarding the East Sea dispute, we harmoniously combined cooperative and fighting measures to resolutely protect the country’s sea and island sovereignty, he said.

Minh went on to say that external economic activities helped the country’s economic-trade-investment relations with partners and attracted external resources to develop the national economy.

Diplomats fulfilled their task as advisors to the Government in managing and stabilising the macro economy, he said.

Besides traditional markets in the Republic of Korea (RoK), Germany, China and Japan, external economic activities targeted new markets in Latin America and Africa, he added.

The minister stated that Vietnamese diplomats actively took part in multilateral and bilateral negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs) with partners that included the EU and RoK.

To date, 36 countries have recognised Vietnam as a market economy, he said.

According to Minh, cultural achievements were recorded in 2012, including UNESCO’s recognition of the worship of Hung Kings as an intangible cultural heritage of humankind.

The second conference for Overseas V ietnamese in September, 2012, was a success. The first trip to Truong Sa by overseas Vietnamese helped them understand more about the Party and State’s policies and determination to defend the sea and islands.

2013 is an important transitional year in the 2011-2015 Socio-economic Development Plan. The diplomatic sector will coordinate with other ministries, agencies and localities to accelerate international integration as outlined in the 11 th National Party Congress, Minh said.

“With diplomatic efforts and the close coordination of other agencies and localities, we will successfully maintain a peaceful and stable environment, creating favourable condition for national construction and defence,” he concluded.