Vietnam chairs exchanges with founding countries of the UNCLOS Friends Group on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Convention's entry into force.

Over the past 30 years, UNCLOS has been a solid legal framework to promote cooperation and ensure the legitimate rights and interests of countries at sea...

Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang chaired a working lunch with Ambassadors and representatives of the 11 founding countries of the UNCLOS Friends Group.

On October 24, at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador and Head of the Mission Dang Hoang Giang chaired a working lunch with Ambassadors and representatives of the 11 founding countries of the Group of Friends on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to strengthen coordination and promote the Group's activities in the coming time.

Also attending were Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs ; Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Director of the East Sea Institute, Diplomatic Academy, Vietnam's candidate for the position of Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026-2035 term, Mr. Marcin Czepelak, Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and a number of experts from the PCA.

Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang expressed his delight at the Group's increasingly strong development over the past three years with more than 120 member countries and many forms of activities, and thanked the core countries for their support and close coordination in promoting and upholding the value, integrity and universality of UNCLOS in the negotiation processes at the United Nations in recent times.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, affirmed that over the past 30 years, UNCLOS has been a solid legal framework to promote cooperation, ensure the legitimate rights and interests of countries at sea, and contribute to promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 14 on conservation and sustainable use of the sea.

Ambassadors and representatives of countries welcomed the core and leading role of Vietnam in recent times, which has effectively contributed to enhancing the role and image of the Group of Friends at the United Nations. Countries affirmed that the activities of the Group have created a forum for exchanging and discussing diverse aspects of sea management and use, continuing to affirm the value of UNCLOS in dealing with new challenges at sea.

During the working lunch, delegates also discussed recent important developments in the field of oceans and maritime law such as the Agreement on the Conservation of Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and the challenges posed by climate change and sea level rise to the international legal framework on the sea.

The PCA Secretary-General stressed that the comprehensiveness of the maritime dispute settlement mechanism in UNCLOS and BBNJ shows the potential of these procedures in assisting countries in finding solutions to differences in the interpretation and implementation of legal provisions in maritime delimitation and management.

Sharing some of Vietnam's experiences and successes in implementing UNCLOS, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh said that in recent times, Vietnam has achieved many important results in building national laws, negotiating maritime delimitation with countries in the region, as well as exercising the rights of coastal states to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf.

In the context of the international community facing many common challenges regarding the sea, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang and Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, called on the founding countries to continue to contribute and share ideas so that the Group of Friends can further promote its role in promoting and affirming the value and vitality of UNCLOS, especially on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Convention coming into force.

A group of friends is a form of informal exchange and coordination between countries, especially at the United Nations, to cooperate on a number of topics of common interest.

The Friends of UNCLOS Group is the first group that Vietnam initiated and co-chaired the campaign to establish (with Germany) in 2020. The Founding Group includes 12 countries: Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Senegal, South Africa and Vietnam. To date, the Friends of UNCLOS Group has more than 120 countries, representing all geographical regions.

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Source: https://baoquocte.vn/viet-nam-chu-tri-trao-doi-voi-cac-nuoc-sang-lap-nhom-ban-be-unclos-nhan-dip-30-nam-cong-uoc-co-hieu-luc-291394.html