Hanoi (VNA) - Ernst Noorman, Ambassador-at-large for Cyber Affairs of the Netherlands, spoke highly of Vietnam’s efforts in hosting the signing ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention), as the event demonstrated the country’s strong commitment to tackling global cyber threats and advancing international cooperation.
“I’m really impressed,” Noorman told the Vietnam News Agency about the signing ceremony which clearly showed Vietnam’s commitment to combat cybercrime. He was happy that the Convention was finally signed after more than five years of challenging negotiations.
“For us, it was very important to have human rights strongly embedded in the convention, and I think we were successful with that,” he said.
He emphasised the importance of swift ratification and implementation of the Convention.
“First of all, we all have to sign it. The Netherlands, for administrative reasons, could not sign it today, but we will sign it in the very near future,” Noorman added.
According to the Dutch official, once ratified, countries need to operationalise the agreement and integrate its provisions into local legislation because fighting cybercrime means working together between countries.
Capacity building, he noted, remains a key component of the Convention. “We are working together with a number of countries and the UNODC to help increase capacity and build together the resilience against cybercrime and in the end, help citizens defend themselves.”
Regarding the Netherlands’ cooperation with ASEAN countries, he said that in November, the Netherlands, together with the ASEAN Secretariat, will organise a regional dialogue on cybersecurity in Singapore, bringing ASEAN members together to discuss the most important topics on cybersecurity — and as part of that, cybercrime./.
