Vietnam contributes to UN high-level meeting on transit, trade facilitation

Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and the Small Island Developing States, the meeting attracted ministers and high-ranking representatives from transit, least developed, small island and landlocked developing countries in Asia and Europe, and leaders from the UN, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the World Customs Organisation. 

As one of the initiatives to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda  – the US’s most comprehensive action-oriented document for national and global-scale sustainable development, the meeting discussed and proposed specific measures to realise the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the 2014-2024 period. 

Participants underscored the need to incorporate the Vienna Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda into national plans, strategies and State budget as well as the importance of increased connectivity and cooperation to trade facilitation.

They also called for further support of the international community for bilateral and regional cooperation initiatives of transit and landlocked developing countries during the process of fulfilling the Vienna Programme of Action and the Agenda 2030 goals. 

The event reflected Vietnam’s active, proactive and responsible contributions to UN activities and marked a milestone in Vietnam-UN ties, especially in the context that Vietnam celebrates the 40th anniversary of its UN membership this year and successfully assumes its role as a member of the UN Economic and Social Council for the 2017-2019 tenure. 

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said through experience of over 30 years of reform and international integration, Vietnam has come to fully appreciate that trade and investment facilitation is critical to economic growth and poverty alleviation. 

“Vietnam’s membership in the WTO, ASEAN, APEC and our participation in various Free Trade Agreements, including the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, have given our goods better and easier access to global markets. This contributed immensely to the achievement of our socio-economic goals and most Millennium Development Goals”, he stated.