Vice President attends fifth CICA in Tajikistan

ABO/NDO – Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh attended the fifth Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) that took place in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan from June 14-15.

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh speaks at the 5th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Dushabe, the capital city of Tajikistan on June 15. (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the event, the Vice President affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of treasuring peace, cooperation and development, promoting international integration, actively engaging in and contributing to the international community’s common work, building and shaping multilateral mechanisms at regional and global levels based on the principles of equality, transparency and respect for law.

She emphasised that Vietnam always works hard to maintain a peaceful and stable environment in the region, ensure aviation and maritime freedom, settle disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law, including the UN Charter and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and push forward negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

The Vice President noted that the CICA has the potential to become a driving force for the world economy in the future, but is also a region with great risks of conflict that can cause serious consequences for the region and the world, as well as challenges such as slowing growth, environmental problems and trans-national crime.

She stressed that the CICA should promote its role as a forum for building trust in Asia and upholding the fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter, including respecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, not to use or threaten to use force, and not to interfere in countries’ internal affairs, and settling disputes through peaceful measures.

The CICA should assist member countries in coping with challenges through fostering economic cooperation and development, expanding cultural, social exchange and strengthening connections among countries and people.

The conference adopted a Dushanbe Declaration, pledging to strive to turn CICA into a major multilateral mechanism to promote dialogue and cooperation in Asia through fair trade, market opening, cultural exchange, connectivity, tourism, and clean energy development.

During her stay, Vice President Thinh met with a number of State and Government leaders.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon (R) receives Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh. (Photo: VNA)

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon told the Vietnamese Vice President at their meeting that Tajikistan wants to deepen traditional friendship with Vietnam across fields and expand bilateral cooperation at multilateral forums.

Rahmon said the two sides need to closely coordinate to strongly push economic and trade ties on a par with the bilateral relations. He agreed with Vice President Thinh’s proposal on establishing a joint committee to promote bilateral cooperation, and suggested that the two countries set up embassies in each other's capitals.

For her part, Thinh praised Tajikistan for its preparation for the CICA, and affirmed that Vietnam will coordinate closely with the host country for the event’s success. She suggested the two sides focus on promoting economic and trade bonds with specific measures. She also called on the two sides to expand business cooperation in the fields of their strength, including material cotton and fabric production, agriculture, fisheries, textiles, and mining.

Vice President Thinh also had separate meetings with the Chinese President, the King of Qatar, the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, and the Indian Foreign Minister, during which she proposed the countries to coordinate with Vietnam in taking measures to bolster multifaceted relations between Vietnam and the nations, and enhance the exchange of all-level visits.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his respect for relations with Vietnam and suggested the two sides implement commitments of the two countries’ leaders to further the Vietnam-China relations.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov pledged to coordinate with Vietnam in organising the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in October this year.

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar stressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new government wishes to further expand the strategic partnership between the two countries.

(Source: NDO)