Vietnam has actively involved in joint efforts to foster Asian-African connectivity as showed through its participation in the Asian-African Conference 2015 as one of the conference’s founders and a responsible and trustworthy partner of the two continents, said Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc.
Ngoc noted that Vietnamese officials were present at all events held at the same time in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 22-24, including President Truong Tan Sang attending a ceremony marking the 60 th anniversary of the Bandung conference and 10 years of the Asia-Africa strategic partnership, and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joining the World Economic Forum on East Asia.
Vietnamese leaders helped foreign friends get better understanding of Vietnam’s efforts in building a Southeast Asian region of peace, stability and prosperity.
They also clarified the need to peacefully settle disputes in conformity with international law, ensuring maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom, he said.
Vietnam also shared initiatives and experience in boosting connectivity and cooperation with African countries as well as the South-South cooperation.
The message on strengthening Asia-Africa connectivity for peace and prosperity in the world on the basis of international law delivered by State President Truong Tan Sang was lauded by event participants, said Ngoc.
At the same time, Vietnam contributed constructively to building documents used at the conference, especially those contents relating to the East Sea, water security, Ngoc stated.
The Deputy FM reiterated that the formation of the Asian-African Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference in 1955, was significant since it was the first multilateral conference to gather developing and newly-liberated countries in joint actions to eliminate colonialism and cooperate for mutual development.
After Vietnam’s Dien Bien Phu victory in 1954, the conference encouraged the national liberation movements around the world, he said, noting that over 20 African countries gained independence five years after the first conference.
The conference opened up a new era of solidarity among developing countries, resulting in the inception of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, Group 77 in 1964 and then South-South Cooperation mechanism, the diplomat noted.
The 10 principles of Bandung helped with the building of common principles of conduct regulating relations among countries, including regulations of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity and not violating and intruding other countries, as well as settling disputes through peaceful measures in line with the United Nations Charter, Ngoc said.
He revealed that this year, the conference issued a number of important documents, including the Bandung message on strengthening South-South cooperation for forging global peace and prosperity, a statement on enhancing vitality of new Asian-African strategic partnership, and a statement on Palestine.
The documents highlight the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security as well as the need to bolster trade, investment cooperation and connectivity.-VNA
