Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (right) and Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration Marcin Czepelak had talks in Hà Nội on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính received visiting Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Marcin Czepelak in Hà Nội on Monday.

Appreciating the PCA's close and active cooperation with Việt Nam, and welcoming its decision to place its representative office in Việt Nam, the PM vowed to direct relevant ministries and sectors to provide maximum support and create the best conditions for the operation of the office in line with regulations.

Chính affirmed that Việt Nam was a peace-loving country, a responsible member of the international community, and always upheld multilateralism and the basic principles of international law recognised in the United Nations Charter, including one on the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

Việt Nam always upheld compliance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the PM said, adding that Việt Nam highly appreciated the PCA’s role in assisting countries to peacefully resolve international disputes by arbitration.

He said that Việt Nam wished to work closely with the PCA in consultation, experience sharing, and assistance in handling disputes in the process of international integration.

The PM expressed his hope that the PCA office in Hà Nội would employ many Vietnamese people, and help improve the international legal qualifications of Vietnamese experts.

Czepelak highly appreciated Việt Nam’s strong commitments and role in promoting compliance with the UN Charter and international law.

The Secretary-General shared his admiration for the PM's affirmation that Việt Nam does not pick sides but always chooses justice and what's right, saying that this was the PCA's motto and also one of the reasons why PCA decided to set up a representative office in Việt Nam.

The Secretary-General highly appreciated the support of the Government of Việt Nam and the good cooperation relationship with relevant ministries and branches, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; affirmed that the PCA would continue to promote cooperation and support Việt Nam's priorities, especially in training international legal experts.

With its support for the PCA office, Việt Nam continued to demonstrate its commitment, sense of responsibility, and contributions regarding the promotion of international law enforcement, and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, he said.

He hoped the opening of the office as part of his trip to Việt Nam would serve as a bridge for increasing collaboration between the sides. — VNS