Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga: A silent messenger with vision and heart

Among the countless diplomatic officials who have quietly contributed, I was fortunate to work with Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga, former Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga at the Conference "Strengthening comprehensive Asia-Europe partnership in the 21st century" in April 2016.

Diplomacy is the art of connecting people, negotiating to protect national interests, and elevating the country's position. In the era of international integration and a world of constant change, diplomacy is also a journey to create sustainable values for the future.

The story of Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga's courageous, dedicated and humane journey is not only a strong inspiration, but also a reminder for us foreign affairs officers today: To step out into the world , we need to start from hearts that know how to nurture right in our homeland.

Strategic thinking from foreign affairs practice

Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga not only makes strategic proposals for foreign policy, but also directly participates in negotiating and implementing many agreements, treaties, and multilateral cooperation programs of long-term significance. The Ambassador is always concerned not only with the tasks assigned to her but also places those tasks within the overall foreign policy of Vietnam.

The 13th National Party Congress identified multilateral diplomacy as one of the important pillars in Vietnam's foreign policy, and it is necessary to elevate multilateral diplomacy through proactive participation and active contributions to international organizations, especially ASEAN, the United Nations, APEC, ASEM, etc., reflecting the Party's innovative thinking and strategic vision in the context of rapid and unpredictable international changes. And the "silent architect" who contributed to building the Party's policy on elevating multilateral diplomacy is Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga.

From the experience of participating in multilateral foreign affairs activities at APEC, ASEM, WTO forums, participating in the negotiation of the TPP Agreement (now CPTPP) as well as many multilateral FTA agreements, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga realized the urgency of building a strategic and overall orientation for Vietnam's participation in multilateral cooperation. The Ambassador proposed the idea and organized the first National Conference on Multilateral Foreign Affairs (August 2014) to build consensus among all ministries, departments and branches from the central to local levels, as a premise for building Directive No. 25-CT/TW of the Central Party Secretariat on enhancing multilateral foreign affairs in 2018.

Not only passionate about research and foreign policy planning, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga also always puts policies into practice. With the current situation, the Mekong sub-region, including Vietnam's Mekong Delta, is increasingly severely affected by climate change, drought, and floods. Since 2010, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga has promoted the diversification of partners in cooperation to effectively respond to climate change and sustainably manage the common water resources of the Mekong River.

With the initiative “ASEM Sustainable Development” proposed by Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga to our Senior Leaders and approved and implemented by members since 2013, it has contributed to gaining international support and participation, especially ASEM members, for Mekong sub-regional cooperation. The initiative was initiated by the ASEM Workshop on Water and River Basin Management - Green Growth Approach held in Can Tho City, on World Water Day, March 21, 2013. The initiative has been highly appreciated by international friends for its long-term vision and flexible approach.

The journey of sowing seeds for the next generation

Not only possessing a sharp vision and creating foreign strategies, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga is also always concerned with training and inspiring the young generation, the "future ambassadors" of the country.

A class of 7x and 8x multilateral diplomats, we respectfully call Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga “Homeroom Teacher”. Although a strict teacher, the Ambassador is also a dear “Big Sister” who always cares for and guides us in our work, instilling passion and love for the profession, as well as how to treat people in life.

“Teacher” Nguyen Nguyet Nga and our staff stayed up all night preparing for the Summits, guided and planned with us each diplomatic “campaign”, patiently edited each page of reports or research, and organized meetings to exchange new ideas.

It was also that “Big Sister” who took care of us so we could have warm food when working late at night, brought us medicine and balm to relieve our colds after sitting in an international conference room with the air conditioning too cold, and shared her experience with female staff in balancing work and family life…

Despite her busy professional and administrative work, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga has spent a lot of time teaching and advising on training programs for young officials and students in the field of diplomacy. The Ambassador has also been a guest and keynote speaker at many seminars and training courses to improve international integration capacity for officials working in foreign affairs and at ministries, branches and localities across the country.

With the motto “diplomacy is tomorrow’s business, starting today”, “Teacher” Nguyen Nguyet Nga always encourages young cadres to develop independent thinking, take research as a foundation, and respect differences. Many cadres who have been guided by Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga are now holding important positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, and international organizations.

In her journey of contributing to the country's foreign affairs, Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga's tireless dedication has become a symbol of intelligence, courage, passion for her profession and the spirit of serving the Fatherland. With her profound strategic vision and dedication to nurturing the next generation, the Ambassador has not only made practical contributions to the cause of building a modern foreign policy, but also quietly built a foundation of knowledge and ideals for the next generation of young cadres.

There are those who choose to shine quietly - like Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga. The values that the Ambassador created will continue to spread for a long time, as a testament that diplomacy is not only a work of reason, but also a journey of the heart. From that silence, a generation of diplomats has been trained and continues to inspire the next generation to continue writing pages of diplomatic history full of courage, humanity and Vietnamese intelligence.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dai-su-nguyen-nguyet-nga-mot-su-gia-tham-lang-voi-tam-nhin-va-trai-tim-321436.html