Population work crucial to national development

On December 1, the Deputy Foreign Minister received in Hanoi Natalia Kanem, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Director Bjorn Anderson, who have been in Vietnam for the 9th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR).

He praised the agency for having assisted Vietnam in dealing with its social issues and poverty reduction, implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, train personnel, and devising policies on population, thus contributing to the country’s socio-economic achievements and improving people’s living conditions. 

Quy suggested the UN and the UNFPA in particular continue advising Vietnam on socio-economic development policies, including population issues, building the Population Law, handling with population aging challenges and gender imbalance at birth,  and providing official development assistance (ODA) capital for Vietnam to implement their joint cooperation programmes from 2017-2021.

He assured Vietnam's willing to work with the UNFPA to promote the organisation’s priorities at the UN forum and realize population and sustainable development goals and other international commitments.

Kanem told her host she is greatly impressed by the remarkable socio-economic achievements Vietnam has recorded over the past 30 years of pursuing  the Doi Moi (Renewal) process.

Vietnam is a typical example in fulfilling most of the MDGs and implementing the One UN Initiative in Vietnam, she said while applauding the country’s commitment to the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

She pledged her agency's readiness to help Vietnam carry out population policies and promote gender equality and women empowerment as a contribution to the nation-building process.