PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the online summit (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has suggestedmember countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) step up cooperation andshare experience at all levels and in all spheres during the fight against theCOVID-19 pandemic.
He made the suggestions at an online Summit of the NAM on May 4that saw the attendance of heads of states/governments of 40 member countries.
The present context requires the NAM to strengthen and affirm thespirit of solidarity in order to overcome challenges and stamp out theepidemic, he stressed.
Member countries should map out strategies to complete the twin targetof containing the disease and developing the economy, ensuring social welfare,the PM proposed.
He also called for support for enhancing multilateralism andinternational solidarity, and persistently pursuing major multilateralismcommitments.
The NAM should continue to play the leading role in promoting respectfor the law, democratising international relations, opposing power-basedpolitical behaviour, promoting the lift of sanctions and unilateral embargoes,and responding to the UN Secretary General’s appeal for a global ceasefire tomaintain an international environment of peace and stability.
Phuc attributed Vietnam’s active achievements in the COVID-19 fightto the involvement of the entire political system and society with the spiritof “fighting the pandemic as if fighting an enemy”.
The Vietnamese Government has made all-out efforts to fight thedisease while ensuring social welfare so that nobody is left behind, heemphasised.
The leader also spoke of Vietnam’s efforts in its capacity asASEAN Chair 2020 and a non-permanent member of the United Nations SecurityCouncil in forging regional and international cooperation in order toeffectively contain the epidemic.
He highlighted Vietnam’s financial and material contributions tosome countries affected by the illness.
The UN General Assembly President, the UN Secretary General andthe WHO Director General also attended the event.
At the end of the summit, member countries issued a jointstatement supporting multilateralism as well as the role of internationalorganisations in general, and the UN and the WHO in particular, while callingfor enhanced international cooperation.
NAM member countries also condemned and called for the lifting ofunilateral embargoes that violate the UN Charter and international law, andtarget some of its member states.
They agreed to establish the Non-AlignedMovement Task Force to work on a database that will include the basichumanitarian and medical needs and requirements of NAM member states.
Established in 1961, NAM is dedicated torepresenting the interests and aspirations of developing countries, and now has120 members from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 60percent of UN members. Vietnam joined the organisation in 1976./.
VNA
