Rome: A sound foreign policy has helped promote Vietnam’s stature in the international arena, according to Director of Italy-based AGC Communication Antonio Albanese.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, he described 2023 as a highly successfully year of Vietnam’s diplomacy in terms of its relations with Italy amid the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, as well as with other countries around the world.

He noted that the Italy – Vietnam relations date back to the widespread movement of support for Vietnam in the European country during the 1960s – 1970s. Nowadays, the country and people of Vietnam have become even more familiar to Italians thanks to a large number of celebratory activities held in many Italian localities this year.

Since Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong’s visit to Italy in July, bilateral relations have reached a new height, becoming more intensive and closer over time. Aside from the signed agreements, the diplomacies of Vietnam and Italy share relatively many similarities as
geo-political changes have led to a demand for a diplomatic policy of peace, diversity, and responsibility to help enhance international relations, Albanese said.

In addition to the geo-political factor, cultural traditions are also connecting the two nations, he opined, elaborating that home to millennia-old civilisations and long-standing histories, they are making joint efforts to ensure peace and prosperity for people in each country and their surrounding regions in the face of conflict risks.

Italy has engaged in the settlement of ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Vietnam has played an important strategic role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has made many important contributions to the maintenance of solidarity and unanimity, along with the consolidation of centrality of ASEAN for regional peace, stability, cooperation, and development, the AGC Communication executive added.

He held that similarities could also be seen in the smart diplomatic activit
ies in the two countries’ relations with world powers, adding those activities have also helped popularise the image of an active Vietnam to people worldwide, including Italy./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The year of 2023 has continued to witness Vietnam’s practical and effective contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations, helping to affirm the country’s image as a dynamic, active and responsible member of the international community.

Following the Party and State’s orientations, Vietnam has sent personnel to UN peacekeeping missions, realising the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development.

So far, Vietnam has sent nearly 800 military and public security officers to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) as well as the UN headquarters in the forms of individuals and units.

Currently, Vietnam ranks 45th out of 120 countries sending military and police officers to the missions with the number of personnel regularly deployed to field missions reaching 274, including 36 women officers.

The
UN Secretary General, the UN Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations and the UN Military Advisor have repeatedly praised Vietnamese peacekeeping forces and sent letters of thanks to the Government of Vietnam for the contributions of the forces. Many UN leaders also highlighted Vietnam’s contributions to promoting gender equality by sending a large number of women officers to UN peacekeeping missions, meeting and exceeding the criteria set by the UN.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix hailed the active and effective engagement of Vietnam in UN peacekeeping activities as well as the country’s commitments to realising UN targets and criteria. The official said he was deeply impressed by the Vietnamese engineering unit’s performance in the UNISFA despite difficulties.

Meanwhile, UN Under-Secretary-General Atul Khare for Operational Support expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s efforts and contributions, especially through the deployment of level-2 field hospitals to
UN peacekeeping missions since 2018. This showed Vietnam’s strong commitments and efforts, and was a wonderful thing in the partnership between Vietnam and the UN, he commented.

In March this year, during a conversation with Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of the UNMISS Nicholas Haysom appreciated the active and effective contributions, creativeness and efforts to overcome difficulties of medical officers and soldiers of the level-2 field hospital and peacekeepers of Vietnam at the UNMISS.

In December, UN Police Adviser Faisal Shahkar highly valued Vietnam’s active involvement and good results in peacekeeping operations, including police activities, and voiced his hope for closer cooperation with Vietnam in this regard.

At an event to honour the contributions and sacrifices of ‘blue beret’ forces as part of activities marking the 75th anniversary of the International Day of United Nations Pe
acekeepers (May 29, 1948-2023), UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres emphasised that in the context of escalating tensions and conflicts in many regions of the world, UN peacekeeping forces are considered a fulcrum of safety and hope for people in many countries and is a symbol of multilateralism.

At the event, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, on behalf of the Vietnamese State, received a Dag Hammarskjöld Medal – the medal for the cause of international peace to servicemen who died while on duty under the UN flag in 2022 – presented by the UN Secretary General to Lieutenant Colonel Do Anh.

The contributions and successes of Vietnam in the past journey are clear evidence that the deployment of forces to international peacekeeping operations is a sound policy of the Party and State, helping to affirm that Vietnam is a responsible member of the international community, enhancing Vietnam’s position, prestige and role in solving international problems, while creating favourable conditions to promote international c
ooperation on both bilateral and multilateral aspects.

With their braveness and spirit of self-reliance as well as flexible and creative approach, Vietnamese officers joining peacekeeping activities have shown strong performance in implementing their tasks, overcoming difficulties, maintaining close relations with local communities, and acting as ambassadors of peace and friendship. Joining UN peacekeeping missions has also helped Vietnam actively prepare forces and become ready to deal with non-traditional challenges in any circumstances./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 5 of Vietnam, which has joined the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), has organised practical activities to introduce the image of Vietnam and its people, and the heroic tradition of the Vietnamese army, to international friends.

In celebration of the 79th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22, 1944 – 2023), the activities have helped to send a message to international friends about a friendly and peace-loving Vietnam that always wants to be a friend with all countries in the world.

On this occasion, Force Commander of UNMISS Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, who had worked in Vietnam for four years, visited officers and soldiers of the Vietnamese field hospital.

While expressing his impression of the history and heroic tradition of the VPA, the officer acknowledged the contributions of the hospital in particular and the Vietnamese army in general to the UN peacekeeping force at the UNMISS.

He took this occasion
to present a certificate of merit to Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang for her outstanding achievements at the hospital.

Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 5 was deployed to South Sudan in July this year to replace Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 4. It consisted of 63 members, including 11 females. These officers and soldiers have undergone comprehensive training in all aspects, including political, military, technical logistics, medical expertise, and peacekeeping knowledge relevant to the current situation.

The continuous deployment of Vietnam’s level-2 field hospitals at UN peacekeeping missions has contributed to affirming Vietnam’s responsible and active participation and long-term commitment to UN peacekeeping operations./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Seoul: Vietnam’s diplomatic sector has reaped positive results in 2023, stated Assistant Professor Beak Yong-Hun from the School of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies under the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Dankook University.

Talking to Vietnam News Agency, Beak highlighted Vietnam’s upgrade of its ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership level with the US in September and Japan in November.

Along with the previously established comprehensive strategic partnership frameworks with China, Russia, and the RoK Korea, new developments in 2023 show that Vietnam is continuing to pursue a balanced foreign policy, imbued with the identity of “bamboo diplomacy”.

According to the expert on Vietnamese studies, strengthening diplomatic relations with the US and Japan helps Vietnam promote cooperation in various fields such as trade and technology, and exchange culture and human resources, thus opening up new opportunities and boosting the country’s economic growth.

In the context of US-China trade competition, Vietnam
‘s strategic role as an important link in the global supply chain is being further promoted, and the country is also considered a good destination attracting foreign investment into Southeast Asia, Beak stated.

He said that an important result in upgrading relations between Vietnam and the US is that the two sides agreed to cooperate in developing science and technology and the semiconductor industry. As a result, Vietnam will have favourable conditions to develop training of highly skilled human resources, digital economy and green economy, and to focus on artificial intelligence (AI), energy transition and health care.

As for its relations with Japan, cooperating with Vietnam helps Japan diversify its supply chain, and reduce dependence on China, while Vietnam can also diversify markets and supply sources, and reduce excessive dependence on one partner.

Regarding the RoK-Vietnam relations, it is necessary to establish a cooperation roadmap that the two countries can share, focusing on promoting future co
operation such as green growth and the development of high value-added industries such as information technology. To that end, upgrading and transferring technology based on the RoK’s advanced technological capabilities will be one of the important fields.

It is necessary to have official information exchange channels to help minimise false and negative information related to economic issues and multicultural families, and increase positive information to enhance mutual understanding, he said.

In cooperation towards the future, the role of the young generation of the two countries is very important, contributing to promoting the bilateral relationship. Therefore, supporting the development of the Vietnamese language and Vietnamese studies is also important in promoting further interest in this language and Vietnamese people in the RoK, Beak added./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency