The shipment of COVID-19 vaccine Moderna, provided by the United States, arrives at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport on July 10. (Photo: UNICEF/VNA)
At a conference reviewing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ performance of tasks in the first half of 2021 and mapping out plans for the remaining months held in Hanoi on July 12, Son said the world scene has been greatly affected by the extremely complicated, uncertain and lingering developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, inducing new trends and issues.
Therefore, the diplomacy sector must focus on both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, and enhance the effectiveness of international economic integration, economic and cultural diplomacy, provision of information for external services, and border and overseas Vietnamese affairs, he said.
The ministry also needs to foster better coordination between State diplomacy and Party, National Assembly and people-to-people diplomacy, Son told the conference.
It was widely agreed by attendees that the world has been seeing progress in fighting COVID-19 and gradual economic recovery, with increasing cooperation, dialogues and multilateralism, but there is a great risk of COVID-19 surges, even in nations with high vaccination rates and in Southeast Asia.
The foreign affairs have been done actively, flexibly, and creatively in the during the last six months, contributing the Government’s concerted efforts to realise the “twin goals,” strengthen ties with partners, promote multilateral diplomacy and heighten the country’s position in the international stage.
The ministry has joined hands in arranging 35 phone talks between top Vietnamese leaders and those of foreign partners, accelerated “vaccine diplomacy” and actively dedicated to the COVID-19 response.
As Vietnam continues holding a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council in 2021, Vietnam has paid greater attention to multilateral diplomacy with a variety of activities, highly regarded by the international community.
