Vietnam places high priority on implementing sustainable development goals

This statement was made by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet at a reception held on November 8 in Hanoi for Surya Deva, special rapporteur on the Right to Development, who is on a working visit to Vietnam from November 6 to November 15.

At the reception, Deputy FM Viet welcomed the Special Rapporteur for proposing Vietnam as the first country to visit after being appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.

He shared that the Vietnamese approach is to respect, protect, and promote human rights, while affirming that the nation always puts people at the centre as both the subject and driving force of the development process.

This has been shown through the great achievements of the Renewal (Doi Moi) process in terms of socio-economic development, international integration, and further improvements into all aspects of people's lives, with these factors being recognised by the international community.

The country always ensures the participation and contributions of its people, socio-political organisations, people's organisations, businesses, non-governmental organisations, development partners, and stakeholders in this process, Deputy Minister Viet told his guest.

The Vietnamese diplomat went on to express his belief the visit by the UN official is an opportunity to share good experience, challenges, priorities, and the co-operation needs of Vietnam in implementing SDGs.

Deva thanked the country for facilitating the arrangements for his visit, thus demonstrating its own initiative in co-operating with the UN’s human rights mechanisms.

He hailed Vietnamese achievements and initiatives as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023 to 2025 term and its responsible and active participation in Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism regarding human rights. 

Sharing information about priorities during his term of office, Deva stated that he will continue to maintain a comprehensive, balanced, and transparent approach to promote international co-operation for sustainable and inclusive development whilst intensifying people's participation in the process of formulating, implementing, and monitoring development policies.

He went on to express his wish that the country continues to enhance its role at the UN Human Rights Council whilst further contributing to accelerating the effective implementation of the right to development in Vietnam and around the world.

During the course of his visit, Deva will hold working sessions with many central agencies, socio-political organisations, unions, and businesses, as well as meeting local leaders, and visiting a number of projects and socio-economic facilities to learn about Vietnamese achievements, challenges, priorities, and co-operation needs in the field of development rights.