The event was attended by central and Hanoi officials, along with foreign diplomats and heads of international organisations.
In his remarks, President Phuc recalled the date of September 2, 1945, when then President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence that marked the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Since then, Vietnam has surmounted countless difficulties and challenges to firmly maintain independence, reunify the country, and obtain many proud development achievements, he said.
He also highlighted Vietnam’s expanding foreign relations as seen in its diplomatic ties with 190 countries and successful fulfillment of tasks as host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year 2017 and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - United States Summit in 2019, Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020 - 2021.
Recently, the country was elected to the UNESCO Executive Board for 2021 - 2025 and re-elected to the International Law Commission.
The State leader took this occasion to appreciate the precious support and effective cooperation from countries, international organisations and partners, businesses, investors, friends, and people around the world for Vietnam, especially in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted Vietnam needs support from and win-win cooperation with the international community to help achieve fast and sustainable development.
Given this, the President suggested four cooperation priorities, namely sustaining peace and stability, respecting international law and the UN Charter, maintaining a favourable international environment for economic recovery cooperation; continuing to substantively promote cooperative ties, with a focus on developing infrastructure, ensuring sustainable supply chains, and effectively implementing the agreements on digital transformation, green economy, human resources, and science - technology; enhancing partnerships in climate change response, epidemic prevention and control, healthcare capacity and social security improvement, and wealth gap and social inequality narrowing; and increasing forms of connectivity, all-level mutual visits, exchanges of business delegations, and people-to-people exchange.
Offering the best greetings to the Party and State leaders and people of Vietnam, Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, head of the diplomatic corps, stressed that over the past year, despite pandemic-caused challenges and global uncertainties, Vietnam has gained proud successes, including overcoming the pandemic’s impacts, staying one of the economies with fastest recovery and development in the region, and especially remaining an active and responsible member of the international community.
On behalf of the diplomatic corps, he thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, Government, and relevant agencies for assisting foreign diplomats, which has affirmed the importance Vietnam attaches to the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with other countries and international organisations, as well as its readiness to continue efforts to further promote its role to help achieve the common goal of a world of peace, equality, prosperity, cooperation, and development.
