Ambassador Nguyễn Hồng Thao. — Photo chinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn has highlighted the significance of Ambassador Nguyễn Hồng Thao’s re-election to the International Law Commission (ILC) for the 2023-27 tenure.

Sơn said following the Party and State’s policy of promoting multilateral diplomacy, Việt Nam not only successfully performed important duties as ASEAN Chair 2020 and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021, but also actively and proactively sent officers to work in prestigious international organisations. 

Ambassador Thao’s re-election to the ILC with 145 approval votes is evidence of the sound external policy of the Party and the State, and reflects the international community’s support and trust of Việt Nam, affirming the country’s enhanced stature and prestige on international arena.

Moreover, Việt Nam’s continued participation in the ILC, an agency specialised in developing and codifying international law, demonstrated a strong shift in the country's international integration which is to actively contribute to building international law together with the international community for a world of peace, national independence, democracy, respect of international law, development cooperation and social progress.

It also manifested the maturity of Việt Nam’s multilateral diplomacy, the international community’s trust in Việt Nam’s persistent efforts as well as active and responsible contributions to the UN and multilateral institutions. The event also proved that the ability and expertise of Vietnamese diplomatic officials have increasingly improved, gradually meeting regional and global standards.

As for Ambassador Thao, the re-election is the international community’s recognition of his expertise, capability and experience as well as active contributions to important international law issues during his working tenure from 2017-22 in the ILC, Sơn said.

Apart from the ILC, Việt Nam has been actively bidding for seats in important international organisations and institutions such as the UNESCO Executive Board (for 2021-24 term), the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2022-26 term), the World Heritage Committee (2023-27 term), and the UN Human Rights Council (2023-25 term), he added.

Vietnamese representative re-elected to International Law Commission

Vietnamese Ambassador Thao was re-elected to the International Law Commission (ILC) for the 2023-2027 tenure on November 12 with 145 out of 191 votes, ranking fourth among 11 candidates from Asia-Pacific.

The ILC is an independent body of the UN, and specialises in developing and codifying international law, and reporting to the UN General Assembly’s Legal Committee. It is composed of 34 members who are elected by UN member states every five years via secret ballot.

In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency at the UN headquarters following his re-election, Ambassador Thao expressed his pride in getting a chance to make further contributions to Việt Nam’s position, thus meeting international friends’ expectation for Việt Nam’s role in building international law to address disputes and promote cooperation among nations.

He pledged to make greater efforts during his second tenure to heighten Việt Nam’s stature on the international arena.

He attributed his success in the re-election to international friends’ deep impression of Việt Nam’s two resistance wars, as well as the country's achievements in the Đổi mới (renewal) process over the past 35 years.

Thao said countries also highly value Việt Nam’s consistent external policy of independence and self-reliance, being a friend of all countries. The final factor is the month-long campaigning process in New York, capitals of countries and other representative agencies in the UN.

However, the most important reason is Việt Nam’s rising stature, he said. This year, Việt Nam continues serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and has made contributions to peace processes worldwide.

During the 2017-22 tenure, Ambassador Thao was the first Vietnamese to be elected to the ILC. He actively joined and offered ideas to the committee's important discussions regarding environment protection in armed conflicts, atmosphere protection, response to rising sea level and international law.

Thao earned a doctorate degree on law from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and previously held important positions such as Vice Chairman of the National Border Commission and head of the Vietnamese delegations to negotiations on border agreements with neighbouring countries of Việt Nam. — VNS