Delegates attend a forum at the 14th UNCTAD Conference. — Photo UNCTAD

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Viet Nam has actively supported developing countries in the fields of its strength through south-south co-operation mechanisms and tripartite collaboration, Assistant to the Foreign Minister Vu Quang Minh said.

Addressing the first session of the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 18, Minh said Viet Nam hoped developed nations and the international community would continue to facilitate and encourage the country to implement its international duties.

In his speech, Minh briefed the participants on efforts made by the Vietnamese government to foster reforms and international integration, remove trade barriers, and improve national administrative capacity and investment climate to attract investment, while promoting international trade links.

These efforts, along with assistance from the international community, contributed to Viet Nam's economic growth and poverty reduction, making it a middle-income nation, with a focus on protecting the environment and ensuring social equality, Minh said.

However, he mentioned the difficulties and challenges facing Viet Nam, such as adverse impacts of climate change, which include drought and saline intrusion in the Mekong River Delta and the central region, problems in protecting the environment and avoiding the middle-income trap amidst falling international resources.

Viet Nam called on the international community to continue to provide assistance to low and middle-income countries and transitional economies, Minh said.

On the sidelines of the session, the Vietnamese official met Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina C Mohamed.

On the same day, Minh had a working session with Christopher Chika, director of the Asia and Australasia Directorate under the ministry of foreign affairs and international trade of Kenya, during which they discussed measures to promote bilateral relations between the two countries. They stressed the need to accelerate the signing of co-operation agreements between the two nations' foreign ministries.

Meeting the Vietnamese official on the same day, Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) Arancha Gonzalez praised the Vietnamese government's efforts to speed up international integration and support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), saying that the agency would consider programmes to assist Viet Nam's SMEs in accessing international markets and foreign businesses, including foreign SMEs.

ITC would also support Viet Nam in promoting south-south co-operation through the Viet Nam-ITC- Africa tripartite group on the basis of models that the ITC successfully implemented with China and India, she said.

She invited Viet Nam to send young experts to work at the ITC for one to three years, as well as attend the World Export Development Forum being held from October 12 to 13 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Within the framework of the UNCTAD event, the Vietnamese delegation also participated in the G77 Foreign Ministers ' Meeting with China and a series of forums, including the Global Commodities Forum, the World Investment Forum and the World Service Forum.

Established in 1964, the intergovernmental forum UNCTAD has 194 members. It works to support and promote economic development in general and trade in particular in all its member nations, towards ensuring harmonious development in trade, transport, aid and technical finance. — VNS