Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien: Proud of Vietnam’s Standing on International Stage

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In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Former Member of the Party Central Committee, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien - who has directly participated in many important diplomatic events of the country, recalled the great achievements that the country has achieved in the past 8 decades, especially 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), including important contributions of the Foreign Affairs sector.

Former Member of the Party Central Committee, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien (Photo: VNA).

Removing the bottlenecks

"Having lived through many stages of the revolution, from the resistance war against French colonialism, to the resistance war against the US, to national liberation, the current Doi Moi (Renewal) period, witnessing the upward development of the country, I feel extremely excited, especially now. From a diplomatic point of view, the reason is that Vietnam's international standing is so wonderful. Back then, due to conditions that did not allow it, this was just a dream," said 90-year-old Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien, with 52 years of continuous service in the diplomatic affairs sector.

Nguyen Dy Nien said that the journey of the past 8 decades, especially the 40 years of national renewal, is a journey of revolution in the Party's leadership and management thinking, promptly removing bottlenecks for the country's development. The Sixth Congress of the Party in 1986 is a historical milestone, setting out the path of national reform, including the Foreign Affairs sector.

"The Party's national reform has helped the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to untie many bottlenecks that used to be impossible, such as relations with Western countries and countries in other regions, thereby contributing to promoting other fields from politics to economics, security, national defense, and culture", he emphasized.

Pointing out the outstanding imprints of the diplomatic sector in the 40 years of national renewal, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien said that it has made extremely positive and important contributions to the development of the country.

“The diplomatic sector has made efforts to contribute to breaking the embargo. We joined friends and progressive forces in the world to tackle and solve the problem of relations with neighboring countries. We normalized relations with China (in 1991), with the US (in 1995), joined ASEAN (1995), joined ASEM (Eurasian Conference) (in 1996), and APEC (November 1998). In terms of economic diplomacy, we have signed a lot of bilateral and multilateral economic agreements with other countries," said Nguyen Dy Nien.

Vietnam's cultural diplomacy and soft power

United Nations General Assembly meeting adopting the Resolution on the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness proposed by Vietnam (Photo: Huu Thanh/VNA correspondent in New York, USA).

As Minister of Foreign Affairs for 7 years (from February 2000 to June 2006), Nguyen Dy Nien is known for cultural diplomacy promotion, one of the imprints among the Foreign Affairs sector, especially overseas activities to honor President Ho Chi Minh and spread Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic thought.

In the interview, Former Minister Nguyen Dy Nien recalled the cultural diplomacy activities with excitement.

Before serving as Foreign Minister, he served as Chairman of the National Commission for UNESCO of Viet Nam for 13 years, where he directly participated in and witnessed the historic event in 1987. Thirty-five years ago, UNESCO issued a Resolution honoring "Ho Chi Minh is a Hero of National Liberation, an outstanding cultural figure of Vietnam".

"In 1987, I attended the 24th General Assembly of UNESCO in Paris (France), together with Phan Thi Phuc, who was then Secretary General of the UNESCO National Committee, together with poet Huy Can, who was then Deputy Minister of Culture, together with other Ambassadors. We participated in the campaign for UNESCO to vote to honor President Ho Chi Minh. Notably, in 1987, Vietnam had diplomatic relations with more than 50 countries. The countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Vietnam, most are fiercely opposing Vietnam. However, the UNESCO General Assembly voted, and an almost absolute number of votes in honor of Uncle Ho was achieved. It is clear that this is not due to our advocacy efforts but the great prestige of Uncle Ho in the international arena,” Nguyen Dy Nien recalled. He believed the global honoring of President Ho Chi Minh is a testament to the source of soft strength, the reputation and prestige of the leader, and that of Vietnam, a heroic nation.

With his love for cultural diplomacy, in which he admired Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic thought, when serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Dy Nien made an important contribution to summarizing President Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on diplomacy and building a system of "Ho Chi Minh Diplomatic Thought". He effectively applied the "Ho Chi Minh Diplomatic Thought" to foreign affairs activities, contributing to improving the country's international position, and promoting and enhancing Vietnam's cultural diplomacy.

Faith in the new era of development in Vietnam

Expressing his agreement with the major decisions of the Party and State on national development in the new era, Former Minister Nguyen Dy Nien discussed the revolution of streamlining the organization of the administrative apparatus and organizing the two-level local government model initiated by our Party, led by General Secretary To Lam. He said it is being implemented in a drastic way of great significance, helping to transform the status from a developing country to a developed country by 2045.

To successfully implement this revolution, Nguyen Dy Nien considered the changes in ideology and thinking to be a prerequisite, as the Party did 40 years ago.

"This is still the most important issue. Look at the world and look at yourself," Nguyen Dy Nien emphasized.

Agreeing with the view that the leaders of the Party and State’s repeated emphasis "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together", Former Minister Nguyen Dy Nien said that in the context of deep integration, Vietnam needs to walk the same path with humanity, with the world, with other countries. Also, he stressed the issue of preserving national identity. No matter how deep the integration is, it is necessary to "keep its identity", he said.

In the new development era, Former Minister Nguyen Dy Nien said that it is necessary to have solutions to improve Vietnam's intelligence and gather talents.

"The intelligence of the Vietnamese people must be multiplied. Creating the elites and they must be gathered, valued, given opportunities to work and contribute to the country", Nguyen Dy Nien shared. He deeply appreciated the resolutions and conclusions issued by the Party, including four resolutions considered as the "Four Pillars" with a great impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

From the initial difficulties of the Renewal period to the current position, along with ambitions and challenges for the future, Former Minister Nguyen Dy Nien expressed his belief in the path that the country is taking and in achieving Vietnam's "shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents", as President Ho Chi Minh's dream.

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