Vietnam an active and responsible member of international community

During a recent media interview, the Deputy Minister outlined that Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest number of internet users at 78.44 million as of the start of 2024, equivalent to 79.1% of the population.

Data compiled by authorities indicates that there were nearly 16,000 reports about online scams in the country last year, causing losses of VND390 trillion, equal to US$15.5 billion and surging by 64.78% from 2022. Since the beginning of 2023, the nation has seen more than 13,750 cyberattacks causing serious disruptions to information systems.

Deputy Minister Vu said that aware of the increasingly severe threats from cybercrime and the necessity for enhancing co-operation with other countries and international organisations in fighting cybercrime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and other agencies have engaged in the discussion and negotiation of this document from the initial stage in 2022.

The consistent support for the establishment of a negotiation mechanism and the active participation in the eight sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee sent out a strong message that the country is an active and responsible member of the international community and is joining hands with others to deal with global issues and to contribute to a peaceful and stable global environment, he said.

Elaborating on the adoption’s significance to the Vietnamese side, he said that first the draft provides a detailed and comprehensive legal framework for local authorities to establish and boost the effectiveness of co-operation with other countries’ law enforcement forces.

As cybercrime is borderless, international ties are critically important to helping Vietnamese agencies investigate and collect both information and evidence of acts of cybercrime in a timely manner to serve judicial proceedings.

Secondly, since there remains a gap in the scientific - technological capacity and digital infrastructure among countries, the draft convention opens up opportunities for developing nations, including Vietnam, to participate in and benefit from technical support. Other areas include capacity building and technology transfer mechanisms, all of which will help developing countries improve their cybercrime prevention and response capacity to subsequently build a healthier and safer global cyberspace, Deputy Minister Vu said.

Thirdly, the official outlined that the country had become involved in negotiations from the beginning and had made practical contributions to the contents pertaining to law enforcement, capacity building, and technology transfer. It also took part in co-ordinating the regulations on professional measures. In particular, it showed close, effective, and comprehensive engagement in the contents about diplomatic, legal, and technical matters.

This therefore helped to demonstrate the nation’s proactive and active contributions to promote its role in the building and shaping of multilateral institutions and international political - economic order as stated in the political report at the 13th National Party Congress. It was also a move aimed at carrying out a policy of striving to play a core and leading role at the multilateral forums that hold strategic importance to the country as outlined in the Party Central Committee Secretariat’s Directive 25 on enhancing and elevating multilateral diplomacy by 2030, according to the Deputy Minister.

Following the Ad Hoc Committee’s adoption, the draft convention will be submitted to the UN General Assembly for official approval as soon as possible. After that the convention will be open for member states to sign by December 31, 2026.

Moving forward, Deputy Minister Vu added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and relevant agencies need to continue considering the official adoption, signing, and ratification of this convention. They also need to review and perfect domestic specialised legal documents to ensure the convention is enforced effectively and efficiently. In addition, it can be viewed as necessary to improve infrastructure and technological capacity in a bid to meet the convention’s requirements, while also discussing with the UN and international partners to build suitable technical support programmes.

The adoption of the draft is just the first step, whilst there remains a lot of work need to be done, requiring further activeness from relevant ministries and sectors, he added.