The fifth review conference on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague takes place from May 15 to 19. — VNA/VNS Photo

THE HAGUE — Việt Nam's permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Phạm Việt Anh, affirmed the country's commitment to fully and responsibly implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) while attending the Fifth Review Conference to examine the CWC operation held in The Hague from Monday to Friday.

Anh, who is the Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands, lauded the significant achievements obtained by member states in the destruction of declared chemical weapons and the OPCW's indispensable role as an important tool to maintain security and peace for a world without chemical weapons in particular and weapons of mass destruction in general.

The ambassador reaffirmed Việt Nam's consistent stance on backing the non-proliferation of and complete and verifiable disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. Việt Nam condemns any use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances and for any motive, he stated. 

The Vietnamese delegation proposed that all activities of the OPCW should strictly comply with the functions and tasks specified in the CWC; their publicity, transparency, and objectivity should be enhanced and politicisation prevented; and cooperation and dialogue should be promoted to resolve differences.

Việt Nam urged the OPCW to promote its functions and capabilities to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of countries in developing the chemical industry safely and securely for peaceful purposes; facilitate the utilisation of human resources from developing countries, with a focus on geographical balance; and support the idea of building and scaling up regional centres to pool resources serving the implementation of the convention, including carrying out an initiative to establish an ASEAN regional centre on CWC implementation capacity building.

Việt Nam also suggested promoting the role of the Centre for Chemistry and Technology (ChemTech) in supporting equipment and training staff for member countries and opening up more employment opportunities at ChemTech for officials from member countries, especially developing ones.

The CWC was signed in 1993 and came into force in 1997. Việt Nam inked the convention from the first day – January 14, 1993.

So far, the OPCW has been operating for 26 years, and member countries have destroyed more than 99 per cent of the declared chemical weapons under its control. The US has committed to destroying the remaining weapons before September 30 this year. — VNS