An international conference on the East Sea took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 12-13, drawing the participation of nearly 120 scholars, experts and diplomats from 25 countries worldwide, including Vietnam.

The conference focused on reviewing the recent situation in the East Sea , discussing issues on maritime security and the role of maritime diplomacy and proposing solutions to addressing East Sea disputes.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem emphasised the importance of the East Sea for the Southeast Asian region, saying that ASEAN has close links with the East Sea in history, socio-culture, economics and ecology.

He affirmed that disputes on the East Sea should be addressed through peaceful and diplomatic measures in order to strengthen understanding and cooperation between regional countries, helping build the East Sea into a peaceful and harmonious region.

The participants discussed measures to carry out the guidelines for the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards the building of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea .

In his report, Director of the East Sea Research Centre under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Tran Truong Thuy presented viewpoints on recent developments in the East Sea, stressing the necessity of building the COC with specific content and articles to strengthen confidence building and regional cooperation./.