IAEA vows to enhance cooperation with and technology transfer for Viet Nam

Acting Director General of the IAEA Najat Mokhtar made that pledge during her meeting with President Vo Van Thuong in Vienna, Austria, on July 24.

The IAEA is impressed by Viet Nam's capabilities and active engagement regarding its positive contributions within the UN framework and IAEA's cooperative activities serving atomic energy applications for peaceful purposes, she noted.  

Mokhtar asserted that cooperation with Viet Nam serves as a successful and effective model in various areas, including agriculture, health care, renewable energy, and climate change adaptation.

She spoke highly of Viet Nam's effective role as a member of the IAEA Board of Governors for the 2021-2023 term.

She expressed her hope that the Southeast Asian country will continue contributing to the agency's efforts in tackling common international concerns such as nuclear security and safety, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear technology development for peace, and non-traditional security challenges.

For his side, the Vietnamese leader said that he appreciated IAEA's contributions in ensuring nuclear safety, security, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons; and in promoting nuclear technology development and applications for peaceful purposes and sustainable global development.

He also expressed his gratitude to the agency for its provision of medical equipment and transfer of COVID-19 testing technology for Viet Nam.

Viet Nam will actively participate in and carry out IAEA-initiated technical cooperation projects under the country program framework for cooperation in the development of atomic energy applications for 2022-2027, he stated.  

He thanked IAEA for supporting the trilateral collaborative project between Viet Nam, IAEA, and Laos/Cambodia which promotes the application of atomic energy for peaceful purposes in the two neighboring countries.

The leader proposed IAEA continue to increase technical cooperation projects for the Asia-Pacific region, enabling Viet Nam to participate in specific ones to enhance its human resources training and technology transfer.

He emphasized the need to foster collaboration between the sides in international cooperation programs as well as in experience sharing and technical support for Viet Nam to strengthen national capacity, particularly regarding nuclear security and safety.

Both sides agreed that their team work is progressing well, with IAEA supporting Viet Nam in implementing projects within the framework of its technical cooperation program, such as those on addressing diseases originating from animals (ZODIAC) and ocean plastic waste (NUTEC Plastics).

The occasion, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang and Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Anna Joubin-Bret signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese ministry and UNCITRAL Secretariat in technical support and capacity building./.