Major Nguyễn Phúc Đông (left) at Friday ceremony held to present the Vietnamese President's decision to send him to work at the UN headquarter in New York. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of National Defence held a ceremony on Friday to present the President’s decision to send Major Nguyễn Phúc Đông from the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, to take up a position at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Đông will serve as an officer in charge of military training for the management board of the Policy, Evaluation and Training Division’s Integrated Training Service under the UN Department of Peace Operations from 2021-23.

He is the third Vietnamese military officer to qualify for working at the UN headquarters’ Department of Peace Operations, following Lieutenant Colonel Lương Trường Vinh and Lieutenant Colonel Trần Đức Hưởng.

To secure a post at the United Nations headquarters, Vietnamese officers need to compete against between 150-200 candidates from other UN member nations to pass four qualification rounds.

At the ceremony, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen Hoàng Xuân Chiến asked Đông, in his new position, to fulfil his mission and offer effective consultations to Việt Nam during the country’s participation in UN peacekeeping activities

Chiến said he hoped that Đông being qualified to work at UN headquarters would help elevate the image of Việt Nam on the international stage.

For his part, Đông said he would keep intact the image of an “Uncle Hồ’s soldier”, overcome challenges and strive to carry out his responsibilities, study and improve his capacity, learn from international colleagues, as well as pay attention to pandemic prevention measures. — VNS