Hanoi (VNA) – An internationalconference was held in Hanoi on December 8 to mark 40 years since the adoptionof the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The hybrid event, held by the Ministryof Foreign Affairs, was attended by 150 delegates from ministries, sectors,coastal localities, and representative bodies of ASEAN countries in Vietnam.

In his remarks, Deputy Foreign MinisterNguyen Minh Vu said having been ratified by 168 parties, UNCLOS has truly become a legaldocument of leading importance, only after the UN Charter, and a “constitutionof the seas and oceans”.

The convention formed a comprehensiveand full international legal framework that regulates the rights and obligationsof all states, no matter whether it is coastal or landlocked, in the use of the seasand the management, exploitation, and conservation of marine resources, henoted.

UNCLOS is a comprehensiveinternational legal cornerstone for identifying sea areas, sovereignty,sovereign right, and jurisdiction over sea areas, and for conducting activitiesat sea. It also stipulates compulsory dispute settlement mechanisms topeacefully resolve differences relevant to the interpretation and applicationof UNCLOS among countries, according to the official.

The conference held a panel session to highlight the special values of UNCLOS and another on Vietnam’simplementation of the convention.

In their remarks sent to theworkshop, Tommy Koh, former President of the third UN Conference on the Law ofthe Sea, and Vladimir Jares, Director of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs andthe Law of the Sea, stressed the importance of UNCLOS and Vietnam’scontributions to the UNCLOS drafting and implementation process.

Participants shared the view thatover the past 40 years, UNCLOS has not only properly served as a constitution ofthe oceans but also contributed to the formation and protection of the internationallegal order of the seas and oceans, as well as to the maintenance of peace,security, stability, and international cooperation at sea.

They said that bordering the East Seaand being a member of UNCLOS, Vietnam has always been well aware of the roleand importance of the seas to national peace, security, and development. Theyalso affirmed the importance of respecting and fully and responsibly implementingregulations in UNCLOS, protecting the legal order of the seas and oceans, andpromoting cooperation amid complex developments in the East Sea./.