Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga shares her experience in press information and translation work in the new era on April 1, 2021. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
The "fateful" meeting changed my thinking
Returning from New York after 6 years working at the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations in early 2010, I had a wish to apply for another unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , but when I went to greet her and heard her excitedly talk about her work and the great plans that the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, which she is the Director of, is pursuing to bring practical benefits to the country and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , I was inspired and began to seriously reconsider my wishes.
The only thing I was still hesitant and worried about that I honestly told her was that I had no knowledge or experience in this new field. She cleared it up with a very simple and sincere sentence that I will never forget: "Don't worry, you can come back and work with me, we can study together!"
That "fateful" meeting and 7 years of being directly guided by her completely changed my mindset and approach to work, and more than that, the dedication, determination, and going all the way in everything that she passed on to the unit's officers have always followed me throughout the following years.
Perhaps I am one of the few cadres that you have had to work the hardest to train and cultivate!
In addition to the main task assigned by her, which is to monitor the World Trade Organization (WTO), negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between us and our partners, and lobbying countries to recognize Vietnam's market economy status, she often mobilized me to participate in other areas of the unit such as APEC and ASEM forums, policy research, and directly manage the International Integration Project funded by UNDP because at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was assigned the mission of research, policy planning, and creating new breakthroughs to bring the country into a period of deep and comprehensive international integration.
Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to witness her passion, dedication and great contributions to this important mission, along with many unforgettable memories of the years working under her guidance.
A lifetime of dedication
Among her many outstanding contributions to the country's international integration process, I would like to share just a few of the imprints that I "witnessed" and whose value remains intact to this day.
First of all, it is necessary to mention Vietnam's decision to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in 2010. It can be said that this was a decision of great breakthrough significance, paving the way for the country's deep and comprehensive international integration process in the future, and at the same time serving as an important basis for the negotiation of the current bilateral trade agreement between us and the United States after the tariff storm of the Trump Administration 2.0.
To reach this decision, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was assigned by the Politburo to preside over the development of a project to assess the political and diplomatic impacts of Vietnam's participation in the TPP and present it to the Politburo and the Central Executive Committee for consideration and approval.
The Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation was responsible for taking the lead, coordinating with other units in the Ministry and relevant agencies to develop the Project. At that time, there were many different, even conflicting opinions about joining the TPP.
Therefore, the biggest difficulty and challenge in implementing the Project is to have truly in-depth research, build sharp and highly convincing arguments to create domestic consensus, especially at the high level, and confidently participate in this "new generation" Agreement with high standards and many of the most sensitive areas ever.
After many weeks of thinking, chairing many inter-departmental and inter-ministerial meetings and consulting with some "big names" in the diplomatic sector as well as prestigious economic experts of the country, she decided to establish an Ad-hoc Group in the unit to develop an outline and draft of the Project.
She directly directed and participated with the Group members in writing and revising many different versions, then organized meetings to listen to feedback for many months. There were times when we were running out of ideas, lost direction, and did not know how to move forward, she was the one who came up with new ideas, approaches, and required the Group to reject old thinking.
Then, "after the worst comes the best", the Project was completed in its 9th version with a length of 9 pages and I had the honor of being a "motorbike taxi" to take her to the Ministry gate at 1 Ton That Dam so that she could accompany the Ministry's leaders to present at the meeting of the Politburo, followed by the Central Executive Committee.
Joy exploded one afternoon in November 2010 when we were informed by her that the Project had been highly appreciated and unanimously approved by the Politburo.
Along with that, it is necessary to mention her efforts and enthusiasm in successfully mobilizing UNDP to fund two projects "Enhancing leadership capacity for women in the public sector in the context of international economic integration" and "Enhancing capacity to serve Vietnam's deep international integration by 2020", and at the same time signing a new agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hans Sidel Foundation (Germany) on supporting capacity building for localities and Vietnamese enterprises in the process of international integration.
With her vision, enthusiasm and many ideas, all three projects were effectively implemented, bringing many practical benefits to Vietnamese ministries, branches, localities and enterprises.
Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam has many opportunities to work directly under the guidance and instruction of Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
Some of her initiatives in these projects have been continued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to date, such as the ASEAN Women's Community Group (AWCH), the Diplomatic Corps Spouses Network, etc.; sending young diplomats to receive training in multilateral diplomacy at the ASEAN Secretariat, Vietnamese Delegations to ASEAN and the United Nations.
Many seminars, workshops and various activities in these projects have contributed significantly to the formation of Resolution No. 22-NQ/TW on international integration (March 10, 2023); an important basis for the decision to increase the retirement age for women from 55 to 60, and at the same time an effective channel to propagate, introduce and promote the beauty of traditional culture, the image of the country and people of Vietnam to international friends.
Despite being so busy, she always has enough time for everything from supporting her husband in his work, taking care of her small family with her paternal and maternal families thoughtfully and completely, always caring and interacting with friends and colleagues. We always see in her abundant, persistent energy, dynamism, speed but meticulousness to every detail.
We often joke with each other that if we worked with her, the director of the movie "Beautiful Every Centimeter" would not be able to achieve the title, but would have to change it to "Beautiful Every Millimeter".
It is these factors, along with dedication and determination, that have created the character and brand of Nguyen Nguyet Nga!
During the past time, she had to fight an incurable disease, which took away a lot of her health, but her will, her spirit of dedication, determination, and going all the way could not be shaken! Every time I met her back home during her treatment, she was always optimistic, sharing many ideas that she had cherished but had not had time to implement during her working time. She was very excited and proud that many cadres who were directly trained and guided by her have now matured, taking on the positions of Prime Minister, leaders of many units in the Ministry, Vietnamese Ambassadors in several countries, and some are even leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Today, that war has stopped! That disease has taken her far away but cannot erase her image in us! The words of gratitude and appreciation for her in me are hard to put into words - the respected Sister, Teacher and Leader!
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/cuoc-doi-tan-hien-cua-dai-su-nguyen-nguyet-nga-321535.html
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