Cultural exchange activities at Vietnam - Korea Cultural Day

Elevating multilateral diplomacy

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said: The draft document of the 14th National Party Congress for the first time proposed to put "foreign affairs and international integration" on par with national defense and security, becoming an "important, regular" task, affirming the "key" role of foreign affairs. This is considered a breakthrough in the Party's strategic thinking, demonstrating a new vision of protecting and developing the country in the period of global integration. The elevation of foreign affairs also reflects Vietnam's increasingly high position in the international arena.

The Department of Foreign Affairs held a conference to collect comments on the Documents of the 14th National Party Congress. Accordingly, some opinions said that the Documents should clarify more clearly the opportunities from Vietnam's upgrading of relations with many important partners to the level of "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" with an unprecedented number, creating a large space for Vietnam's development cooperation on a global scale, especially in the Asia- Pacific region. The Documents should identify more specific goals for each component of diplomacy (economic, political, cultural, defense - security), linked to the general goal of making Vietnam a developing country with modern industry and high average income by 2030.

Regarding key tasks and solutions, some opinions said: With the viewpoint of "Taking people and businesses as the center", it is necessary to supplement and clarify this viewpoint in diplomatic work, especially in trade protection, citizen protection, support for overseas Vietnamese and trade and investment promotion. It is necessary to promote economic diplomacy for development. This is a key task, so it is necessary to specify solutions to attract external resources (capital, technology, knowledge) to transform the growth model, promote innovation and digital transformation.

Some opinions hope that the document should mention more clearly the orientation of specialized diplomacy, focusing on areas where Vietnam has strengths or urgent needs such as: Clean energy, high-tech agriculture , health care, education. To raise the level of multilateral diplomacy, it is necessary to strengthen Vietnam's proactive and leading role in international and regional forums such as ASEAN, APEC, the United Nations... Building a comprehensive and modern diplomacy; there needs to be specific solutions to build a formal, elite, modern diplomatic sector with Vietnamese identity, adapting to the digital age.

To create a comprehensive strength in foreign affairs, some opinions say: It is necessary to strengthen inter-sectoral and inter-local coordination. The document needs to emphasize the role of close coordination between central diplomacy and local diplomacy, between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries and branches.

Developing People's Diplomacy

International visitors to Hue via Chan May Port

Affirming the importance of People's Diplomacy, the opinions stated the view: The document needs to continue to pay attention to promoting people-to-people diplomacy activities towards socio-economic development, making practical contributions to the common goals of the country. That is to directly serve the goal of socio-economic development. People's diplomacy needs to aim at mobilizing resources by strengthening cooperation with foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), associations and individuals to mobilize capital, humanitarian aid, technology and knowledge transfer, serving the country's sustainable development goals.

Affirming through exchange activities, connecting people, friendship organizations create conditions for Vietnamese businesses and localities to access international markets, seek partners, and promote products and services through trade and investment promotion activities. Promoting local cooperation, paying attention to and encouraging direct cooperation between localities of the two countries (also known as decentralized cooperation), especially cultural, educational and sports exchange activities at the local level to help expand bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation, creating a favorable political and social foundation for relations with other countries.

Regarding this issue, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Van Phuc affirmed: People's diplomacy helps develop Vietnam's soft power. In a changing world, building trust and mutual understanding is fastest through people-to-people dialogue and people-to-people exchanges. The documents of this Party Congress should propose building a project to develop people's diplomacy, international integration, focusing on mechanisms and policies to attract and exchange overseas intellectuals and experts, and at the same time establishing a network connecting domestic and foreign experts.

In addition, some opinions said that, in terms of context and assessment of the situation, the document needs to emphasize more deeply the complex and unpredictable fluctuations of the world situation, the fierce strategic competition between major countries leading to the possibility of local political and armed conflicts, the rise of protectionism, non-traditional security challenges (climate change, cyber security, epidemics), and the impact of the 4.0 industrial revolution and the strong development trend of artificial intelligence technology.

Regarding the issue of ensuring national security early and from afar, some opinions say that it is necessary to clarify the role of diplomacy in proactively preventing and stopping the risks of conflict, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development.

PEACE

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/theo-dong-thoi-su/khang-dinh-vai-tro-then-chot-cua-cong-tac-doi-ngoai-159952.html