Ambassador reaffirms Vietnam's support for nuclear non-proliferation

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Governor - Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has affirmed Vietnam's consistent policy of supporting the non-proliferation of the nuclear weapons, moving towards the complete and thorough nuclear disarmament.

Speaking at the regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors that opened in Vienna on June 5, Ambassador Kien highlighted the need to balance the three pillars of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), thereby elevating the rights of countries to use nuclear energy and technology for peaceful purposes in accordance with international law and NPT obligations.

Underlining Vietnam's efforts and achievements in nuclear safeguards, he affirmed that the country always supports IAEA's role and values technical cooperation programmes, particularly ongoing ones between Vietnam and the IAEA such as the ZODIAC programme and the trilateral project among Vietnam, Laos/Cambodia, and the IAEA. He also suggested the IAEA continue enhancing support for and technical cooperation with Vietnam in this field.

The meeting will take place over the course of one week and focus on reviewing and discussing IAEA's annual, technical cooperation and nuclear safeguard reports, with the aim of reaching consensus on and submitting them to the 67th IAEA General Conference in September.

Other topics of interest will also be tabled for discussions, such as the implementation of nuclear safeguards agreements between IAEA and Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Syria, and emerging security and safety issues at nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and the trilateral security pact between the US, UK and Australia on the hand-over of nuclear-powered submarines (AUKUS).

Vietnam was elected as a member of the IAEA Board of Governors in September 2021 for the 2021-2023 term. The agency currently consists of 35 members, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Libya, Namibia, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Pakistan, Finland, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, China, Australia, Uruguay, and Vietnam. The IAEA Board of Governors holds four sessions each year in March, June, September, and November, with the annual IAEA General Conference in September.