External activities need to be further improved in order to defend the country’s supreme interests, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has said in an interview granted to the media.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (Photo: VNA)

The interview took place on the threshold of the 29^th Diplomatic Conference and the 18^th National Conference on External Relations scheduled for August 21-26 in Ha Noi. The events are seeking to raise the efficiency of diplomacy and international integration to successfully realise the 12^th National Party Congress resolution.

As the first of its kind to take place after the 12^th National Party Congress, the 29^th Diplomatic Conference will review the diplomatic work over the past 5 years in the 11^th Party tenure so to come up with lessons and identify a new mindset and new implementing methods that would help the diplomatic sector accomplish external guidelines set forth at the 12^th National Party Congress.

The conference will seek to deal with fresh opportunities and challenges stemming from the global area and the country’s strategic areas as these are affecting directly the national interests and growth.

Since maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development will continue to be the diplomats’ key tasks, the conference aims to adopt a comprehensive change in the mindset of running external activities, especially the thought of using diplomacy to spur the country’s growth, Minh said.

As taking place together, the 29^th Diplomatic Conference and the 18^th National Conference on External Relations will enable localities nationwide to keep up with overall developments in the region and beyond so they would together devise measures to carry out external activities in a uniform manner from central to grassroots levels, Minh stressed.

(Source: VNA)