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Sep 19, 2016 / 14:41

Vietnam attended the opening ceremony of NAM Summit

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh led a Vietnamese high-level delegation to attend the opening session of the 17th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit scheduled to open in Venezuela on September 18.

 
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc at the Summit
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc at the Summit
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh was welcomed by Venezuela’s first Vice President Aristóbulo Istúriz. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh was welcomed by Venezuela’s first Vice President Aristóbulo Istúriz. 
 
The Non-Aligned Movement is the second largest international organization in the world, after the United Nations (UN). It currently has 120 member states, 17 observer countries, and 10 observer organisations. 

According to the organising board, the 17th summit has to date seen the presence of 128 delegations from 108 official member countries, six observer countries, eight international orgnisations and six honourary guests.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc participated in the NAM Ministerial Meeting, which aimed to prepare for the summit. Member nations of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) need to further strengthen solidarity to deal with security challenges at present, Deputy FM Ha Kim Ngoc has said.
 
In his speech, Deputy Minister Ngoc highlighted significant contributions made by the movement to struggling for peace, independence and sovereignty of its member nations. 

He affirmed ASEAN nations are making every effort to build the ASEAN Community and the Southeast Asian region of peace, stability and development, while stressing the bloc’s determination to solve East Sea-related disputes by peaceful measures in line with international law. 

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodrigez stressed that NAM has greatly contributed to ensuring peace and stability in the world through its role at multilateral forums. 

The movement should focus on reinforcing its strength as well as enhancing solidarity and diversity among all the member nations, thus facilitating development cooperation and realising sustainable development goals. 

With 120 member states, NAM is the second largest international organisation after the United Nations. It has 53 members from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organisations. 

It has been dedicated since its creation in 1961 to defend the liberation struggles of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing nations that have been described in the past as part of the "Third World."