On September 28 (New York time), President Truong Tan Sang attended the United Nations Peace Keeping Summit chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon and US President Obama, as part of the ongoing 70th session of the UN General Assembly. President Truong Tan Sang and Presidents, Prime Ministers of nearly 50 countries have attended and spoken. President Sang also attended the Policy Dialogue at the Asia Society.
President Truong Tan Sang
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In his remarks at the event which saw the participation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US President Barack Obama and leaders of nearly 50 countries, President Sang affirmed Vietnam’s attendance at the event as one of the troop contributors to UN peace keeping operations (UNPKOs) since 2014. He informed that Vietnam will soon dispatch level-two field hospital and military engineer unit and continues sending liaison officers and staff officers to UN PKOs. He highlighted the role played by UN PKOs in preventing wars and conflicts in many places all over the world over the past 70 years. In conclusion, the President thanked the UN and other countries for assisting Vietnam in her efforts to participate in UN PKOs, saying that “we look forward to the continued cooperation and support in the future.”
The same day, President Truong Tan Sang attended Policy Dialogue on Vietnam-US ties. He has affirmed that the Vietnam-US ties has become an indispensable element in the concerted efforts of the international community to maintain peace, security and development in the region. Addressing a Policy Dialogue on Vietnam-US relations hosted by the Asia Society in New York on September 28, he confirmed t hat it is the common interests that became the driving force for the two nations to overcome the war legacies and differences to become comprehensive partners today.
Our shared interests keep expanding as our cooperation and friendship grow at bilateral, regional and global levels. Today, we both have interests in maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the region. This also covers safety and security of navigation and overflight, law enforcement at sea, maritime environmental protection and dispute resolution through peaceful means on the basis of international law without the use or threat of force. What Vietnam and the US hope for and work hard to attain is also the common aspiration of all peoples in the region,” the President told the audience, who included Asia Society’s President and CEO Josette Sheeran, Executive Vice President Tom Nagorski, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and nearly 100 US government officials, scholars and business people."
The Vietnamese State leader made several proposals on how to take advantage of cooperation opportunities and deepen the bilateral comprehensive partnership efficiently and practically. He said, “ Bilaterally, the two sides need to work closely to realize the Vietnam – US Joint Vision Statement between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Obama in July this year, and the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between President Obama and I in July 2013 with 9 pillars of cooperation. I want to emphasie that in this process, the most crucial point is trust building, especially political trust.
This is the lesson that we have withdrawn from the past and from differences in ideology, political regime, culture and tradition between the two nations. Vietnam would and only would have such confidence in the US when the US strictly fulfills its commitments to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political regime of Vietnam and take concrete actions to realise the statement “the US wishes for a Vietnam of prosperity, strength and independence”.
He continued, “On our part, we will continue with the comprehensive reform to build Vietnam into a country of “wealthy people, strong nation, just, democratic and advanced society”. In this regard, the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people are increasingly respected and ensured. We have taken efforts to build a law-governed state of the people, by the people and for the people.
The President added that at the regional level, Vietnam and the US need to cooperate closely with each other, and with other countries to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia – Pacific through a number of measures. He elaborated that “First, regional mechanisms should be consolidated, including ARF, EAS, APEC, ADMM+, etc., to safeguard peace, security and development. In 2017, the APEC Summit will be hosted in Vietnam, and we hope that will be an opportunity for the two countries to cooperate and contribute to the goals of economic development in the region.
At the global scale, the two countries need to intensify cooperation and coordination at major multilateral forums, particularly within the UN framework, President Sang said, adding that the two sides should focus on issues of mutual interests such as development cooperation, peace and security, non-proliferation and arms control, anti-terrorism, nuclear safety, cyber security, water security, climate change and sea-level rise.
At the dialogue, the President also answered queries of US officials, scholars and businesses on Vietnam’s development prospects, potential and opportunities of the country when joining TPP negotiations, and Vietnam's relations with big nations like USA, Japan, India, and China, the issue of peaceful settlement of maritime disputes, responding to climate change and sea level rise, democracy and human rights
