Vietnam is among 101 countries nationwide to attend an anniversary meeting of 50 years of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that opened in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 5.

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh headed the Vietnamese delegation to the event.

Opening the ceremony, Mohamed Kamel Amr, Foreign Minister of Egypt, which currently holds the NAM Chair, reviewed 50 years of development of the organisation which now consists 120 member states from the initial 25.

He affirmed NAM’s continual growth, saying that from the initial goal of helping peoples win their independence from the colonialist-imperialist oppressions, NAM has expanded its role in dealing with major issues relating to politic, economic and social matters on a global scale.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Serbia was proud to hold the 50 th founding anniversary of NAM at the historic place where the first summit of non-aligned countries took place.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a letter to the event in which he highly valued NAM ’s activities over the past 50 years, stressing that NAM is an important partner o the UN in fighting poverty, coping with the current global financial crisis as well as in seeking peaceful solutions for conflicts.

Delegates at the meeting emphasised challenges faced by the NAM and called on the organisation to maintain solidarity and coordinate actions on the principles of national independence and anti-war for co-existence and development.

On the sidelines of the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Minh had contacts with the foreign ministers of Angola and Tunisia, discussing measures to promote cooperation within the NAM framework as well as bilateral relations and issues of common concern./.