People-to-people diplomacy was a cause of the whole people, affirmed President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong.

In his recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Hong said that on July 6, the Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) issued Directive No. 04 on continued modernisation and improving the effectiveness of people-to-people diplomacy in the future, addressing nine specific tasks.

The Directive set out new requirements and goals for VUFO and its member organisations, encouraging them to contribute to renewal under the motto of “proactive, flexible, creative and effective,” he said.

According to Hong, VUFO and its member organisations played a key role in strengthening friendship and boosting cooperation between the people of Vietnam and other countries, as well as actively encouraging partners and international friends to support, cooperate, assist and protect Vietnam in the cause of industrialisation, modernisation and national development and defence.

To realise foreign guidelines and policies set by the 11 th National Party Congress, VUFO consistently implements the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development; diversification and multilateralisation of relations; proactive international integration; being a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member in the international community; for the interests of the nation and for a strong and rich socialist country of Vietnam, he said.

The mission of the external relation work was to maintain a peaceful and favourable environment, to speed up industrialisation and modernisation, firmly protect independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity and improve the position of the country, making active contributions to the struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress in the world, he stressed.

Hong said that VUFO would pay attention to intensifying the expansion, multilateralisation and diversification of partnership relations in order to consolidate and strengthen the friendship and cooperation with the people of other countries, reinforce and build the network of international friends, and boost cooperation in economics, investment, culture, and science and technology.

As a coordinating organisation for relations and campaigns, the union will proactively seek aid for humanitarian projects from foreign non-governmental organisations, he said.

It would also take advantage of the international people’s strong support for the cause of national construction and modernisation of the Vietnamese economy, helping consolidate and develop an environment of peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual development in the region and the world as well, he added.

Hong went on to say that VUFO and its member organisations would continue to develop stable and intensive relations with organisations of neighbouring countries, ASEAN members and traditional and key areas.

They will consolidate ties with organisations and individuals with goodwill towards Vietnam , encourage Overseas Vietnamese to participate in the national construction and development, as well as promote the image of Vietnam in the international arena, he said.

They will continue implementing the motto of “actively utilising and improving the efficiency of aid and competently managing operations” in relations with foreign NGOs, he said./.