Party General Secretary Tô Lâm (R) receives UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Hà Nội on June 27. VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm has affirmed Việt Nam's commitment to multilateral cooperation and UNESCO's vital role, pledging enhanced contributions to its key governance mechanisms while seeking continued support for national development across education, science, culture and communications sectors.

Hosting a reception in Hà Nội on June 27 for Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay who is on an official visit to Việt Nam, the Party chief expressed his deep appreciation for UNESCO's valuable support over the recent past, particularly in recognising 72 titles across the country, which, he described as valuable assets for sustainable socio-economic development, livelihood improvement, and cultural preservation.

As Việt Nam is stepping into a new era – the era of the nation's rise, aiming to realise its goal of becoming a developed, high-income nation by 2045, the country will continue its deep integration into the world politics, economy, and human civilisation, constantly striving to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region and worldwide.

Against the backdrop, the Party leader asked for UNESCO’s continued assistance to Việt Nam’s integration process, experience sharing, resources support for socio-economic development, and promotion of humanistic and cultural values aligned with both UNESCO's and Việt Nam's interests.

He urged UNESCO to remain a trusted partner in preserving and promoting Việt Nam’s heritage sites and titles, calling for UNESCO’s support in the implementation of the preservation and value promotion dossier for the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, nomination of the Yên Tử - Vĩnh Nghiêm - Côn Sơn - Kiếp Bạc Complex for world heritage status in July, as well as other submissions such as Đông Hồ folk paintings for urgent safeguarding as intangible cultural heritage, and the inclusion of Hồ Chí Minh City and Hà Nội in UNESCO’s global creative and learning cities networks.

He stressed that Việt Nam welcomes and backs UNESCO’s mid-term vision and strategy for the 2022-2029 period, UNESCO strategic transformation, and the organisation's priority cooperation initiatives and programmes, especially in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence.

Azoulay, for her part, praised nearly 50 years of fruitful cooperation with Việt Nam, calling the country one of UNESCO’s most active members, stating that the Việt Nam-UNESCO cooperation has never been as good as it is today.

She thanked Việt Nam for its strong support and commitment, hoping the country will make further contributions to UNESCO's activities. Việt Nam's current positions in UNESCO's key mechanisms demonstrate the organisation's and member states' confidence in Việt Nam's contributions to the organisation's collective activities.

Expressing her impression of the country’s recent socio-economic achievements, she said Việt Nam is a model that many other countries could learn from. Azoulay highly praised the vision and wise leadership of the Vietnamese Party and State through major institutional reforms which create key momentum for national development.

The UNESCO Director-General highlighted that the recognition of Việt Nam's titles and heritage demonstrates the international community's high regard for the country’s cultural values while perfectly aligning with Việt Nam's development trends. Besides, this also reflects appreciation for Việt Nam's efforts and commitment to enriching the treasury of the human civilisation and contributing to the international community's common efforts.

UNESCO will continue to back Việt Nam’s nominations and heritage conservation efforts, while working with the country to develop its cultural industries, Azoulaypledged. — VNS