Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh addresses the General Debate of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, September 22, 2017.

In his speech at the General Debate of the 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday, Mr. Minh said that developing nations should be provided with more favorable conditions and resources to implement sustainable development goals. He stressed that the UN must be the center of coordination and linking joint efforts to address global challenges, building an ever more comprehensive system of rules and norms with a mechanism for ensuring objectivity, fairness, and equality.

“For it to do so, the UN needs to undertake comprehensive reform, from organizational structure and working methodology to the way development resources are mobilized and allocated. Vietnam supports efforts to reform the UN in this direction and will participate responsibly in the reform process,” he said.       

Mr. Minh, who is also Vietnam’s Foreign Minister, urged all parties involved in the East Sea issue to restrain, settle all disputes by peaceful means in line with international law including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully respect diplomatic and legal processes on the basis of international law, implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon achieve a Code of Conduct (COC).

This year’s General Debate is themed “Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet”.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister Minh signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty, adopted in July by two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, will enter into force 90 days after 50 countries have ratified it. 52 countries have signed the treaty so far.