Pham Viet Anh, Vietnam’s permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), pledged to fully and responsibly implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) at the Fifth Review Conference in The Hague from May 15 to 19.
The Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands, Anh, praised member states’ achievements in destroying declared chemical weapons and the OPCW’s crucial role in maintaining security and peace in a world without chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
The ambassador reiterated Vietnam’s support for non-proliferation and total, verifiable disarmament of WMDs, including chemical weapons. He said Vietnam condemns all chemical weapons usage by anyone, anywhere, for any reason.
The Vietnamese delegation proposed that all OPCW activities should strictly comply with the functions and tasks specified in the CWC; their publicity, transparency, objectivity should be enhanced and politicisation prevented; and cooperation and dialogue should be promoted to resolve differences.
Vietnam urged the OPCW to promote its functions and capabilities to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of countries in developing the chemical industry safely and securely, for peaceful purposes; facilitate the use of human resources from developing countries, with a focus on geographical balance; and support the idea of building and scaling up regional centres to pool resources to implement the convention, including carrying out an initiatory process.
Vietnam also urged strengthening the Centre for Chemistry and Technology (ChemTech)’s role in supporting equipment and training employees for member nations and providing additional job possibilities for officials from member countries, especially developing ones.
The CWC took effect in 1997. Starting on January 14, 1993, Vietnam signed the convention. After 26 years, the OPCW has destroyed almost 99% of its reported chemical weapons. US pledges to destroy remaining weapons by September 30.