Vietnam raises its position at the International Conference on Seas and Oceans

Vietnam made its mark as the Chair of UNCLOS 35, effectively chairing, proactively consulting and promoting scientific and technological cooperation solutions in exploiting and protecting the seas and oceans.

Ambassador Do Hung Viet, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN, attended the Conference. (Photo: Thanh Tuan/VNA)

On June 27, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the 35th Conference of States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (SPLOS 35) continued with a general discussion session.

Ambassador Do Hung Viet, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, attended and spoke at the main discussion session.

Speaking to VNA reporters in New York on the sidelines of the conference, Ambassador Do Hung Viet assessed the SPLOS conference as an important annual event of the United Nations. Representatives of member countries discussed all aspects of the implementation of the convention.

This is a comprehensive review process within the framework of UNCLOS 1982.

Ambassador Do Hung Viet said that by participating in the conference, the Vietnamese delegation fully expressed its views on the implementation of the convention, including the peaceful settlement of international disputes, the submission of Vietnam's Extended Continental Shelf Limits beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central East Sea Area, and efforts to promote international cooperation to protect the seas and oceans in the region as well as globally.

In addition to the above content, there are two issues that Vietnam has clearly demonstrated at this year's conference.

Firstly , Vietnam emphasizes the need to be based on science when implementing measures to protect and develop seas and oceans.

This means that the implementation process must always be based on a truly solid scientific and technological foundation to ensure that countries have the capacity and access to technologies to best and most effectively exploit resources from the sea and ocean.

This approach is in line with the current common concerns of the international community. One of the very important reports presented by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the conference is also a report on barriers, challenges and measures to promote the transfer of technology used at sea to countries, especially developing countries.

Overview of the 35th SPLOS Conference. (Photo: Thanh Tuan/VNA)

This is also very consistent with Vietnam's current major policy, which is to implement Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology development, innovation and national digital transformation.

Second, as the Chair of this year's Conference, Vietnam demonstrated professionalism, initiative and flexibility in the process of running the conference, thereby clearly demonstrating our capacity in leading and running major international conferences, highlighting Vietnam's highly responsible contributions at a leading forum on cooperation at sea and in the ocean.

At this year's conference, representatives of other countries were also positively impressed by Vietnam's successful assumption of the Chair position for the first time.

Under the leadership of Vietnam as Chair, the delegations had lively and substantive discussions on the agenda.

The Conference Chairman proactively conducted or guided the Presidium members to conduct many forms of consultation in groups or directly with countries to create an atmosphere of cooperation and promote consensus.

Besides, the Vietnamese delegation continued to actively participate and make substantive contributions at the Conference.

The representative of the Lao Permanent Mission to the United Nations highly appreciated the practical and effective contributions of the Vietnamese delegation to the 35th SPLOS Conference, expressing his belief that the successes that Vietnam demonstrated at the conference not only contributed to promoting the implementation of the UNCLOS Convention, but also enhanced Vietnam's image in the international arena regarding issues at sea and in the ocean.

The 35th Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (SPLOS 35) took place from June 23-27 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, with the participation of 170 member states.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, together with representatives from the Government Office, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security and the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations.

Representing the Vietnamese delegation, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu was trusted and unanimously elected by the Conference to hold the position of Conference Chairman.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu (center) chaired the conference as Chairman. (Photo: Thanh Tuan/VNA)

The conference is an annual event for member states of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to hear reports and discuss the status and results of the work of the bodies established under the Convention, including the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Seabed Authority (ISA) and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), and especially the reports of the United Nations Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea.

This is an important occasion for countries to express their views and propose initiatives and solutions to better implement UNCLOS as well as contribute to protecting and sustainably exploiting the ocean.

In the context of the seas and oceans facing many major and emerging challenges such as rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, depletion of marine resources, etc., and at the same time, facing many new opportunities thanks to strong advances in science and technology that help humans reach further out to the sea and ocean floor, the 35th SPLOS Conference has a particularly important significance.

During the discussions, member states continued to uphold the value of UNCLOS, stressing the full and good faith implementation of the Convention's provisions, and supporting the role and activities of the three bodies established by the Convention.

The conference acknowledged many new steps in strengthening international maritime law and cooperation between countries such as the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice (France) in June 2025, progress in ratifying the BBNJ Agreement; developing the ISA Regulation on Mineral Exploitation on the Ocean Bed; issuing the ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change (May 2024); and welcomed the CLCS issuing 3 new recommendations for reports on extended continental shelves./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/viet-nam-nang-tam-vi-the-tai-hoi-nghi-quoc-te-ve-bien-va-dai-duong-post1046887.vnp