Headquarters of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague (Source: AFP/VNA) The Hague (VNA) – Vietnam condemns all acts of using chemicalweapons regardless of by anyone, at any places and for any purposes, Ngo ThiHoa, permanent Vietnamese representative at the Organisation for theProhibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has affirmed.
Speaking at the fourth Review Conference for the Conventionon Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (CWC), which is taking place in The Haguefrom November 21-30, Hoa emphasised the country’s support for the comprehensiveand verified disarmament of chemical weapons.
Vietnam commits to fully implementing its obligationsfollowing the CWC, and intensifying effective cooperation with the OPCW, addedHoa, who is also Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands.
She affirmed Vietnam’s backing for strengthenedinternational collaboration in raising the efficiency of the CWC enforcementand developing the chemical industry for peaceful purposes, and voiced her hopethat the OPCW and the international community help developing countries in thisfield.
The diplomat shared an initiative to build and duplicateregional centres to connect resources to carry out the CWC, including thepossibility of setting up an ASEAN Centre on increasing the capacity of theconvention’s enforcement.
The review conference is held every five years since theconvention took effect in April 1997 to review the implementation of theconvention in the past five years and recommend effective policies and measuresto improve the efficiency of CWC enforcement in the following year.
The fourth edition attracts the participation of OPCWDirector-General Fernando Arias, United Nations Under-Secretary-General andHigh Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, and representativesfrom 160 CWC member states, observing nations and international organisations.
With 193 member states, which account for 98 percent of theglobe’s population, and the achievement of more than 96 percent of declaredchemical weapon stockpiles eliminated, CWC is considered the most successfulmultilateral treaty in the disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of massdestruction.-VNA
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