Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh speaks at a meeting in Hà Nội on Monday to review the ministry’s performance in 2018 and set up tasks for the rest of the year.—Photo Lâm Khánh

HÀ NỘI — The most important task for external work in 2019 is to intensify established relations and enhance the mutual interests between Việt Nam and its key partners especially neighbouring, regional, and major countries, along with strategic and comprehensive partners.

The remark was made by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh at a meeting in Hà Nội on Monday to review the ministry’s performance in 2018 and set up tasks for the rest of the year.

He noted that despite the complex and unpredictable developments in the world and the region last year, the Party and State’s external work had been carried out in a proactive, creative and effective manner, fulfilling the tasks assigned.

Under the sound and direct leadership of Party and State leaders, methodological, concrete, and effective steps had been taken, helping to maintain peace and stability, attract external resources to national development, safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promote Việt Nam’s stature in the international arena, he said.

Amid the country’s intensive integration into the world, the diplomatic sector needs to play a more active role in seeking markets for Vietnamese goods; mobilising external resources; and helping with the implementation of new-generation free trade agreements, particularly the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Minh said this year, the sector would push on with multilateral diplomacy. Notably, Việt Nam will make preparations for its holding of the ASEAN Chair in 2020 and run for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for 2020-21.

The diplomatic sector would also have to closely co-ordinate with defence and security agencies to help ensure national sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially security and sovereignty at sea, the Deputy PM added.

He said in order to fulfil those tasks, the sector needed to step up strengthening the political firmness and specialised capacity of its staff. He also requested better co-ordination between the foreign ministry and other ministries, sectors, and localities nationwide in external and international integration activities so as to ensure the ultimate goal of meeting national interests. — VNS