Director-General of the Department of Law and International Treaty under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Tuyet Mai speaks at the 57th Annual Session of the AALCO (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – A Vietnamese delegation attended the 57th Annual Session of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), which took place in Tokyo, Japan, on October 8-12.

The inter-ministerial delegation, led by Le Thi Tuyet Mai, Director-General of the Department of Law and International Treaty under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, actively joined the AALCO discussions and related events.

The delegation underlined Vietnam’s stance of upholding the rule of law and settling disputes through peaceful measures, along with maintaining regional and global peace and implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in line with international law, particularly the United Nations (UN) Charter and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

Vietnamese delegates also updated the country’s all-out efforts to work with ASEAN countries and partners to strengthen the rule-based development of the ASEAN Community and to call for the sides not to resort to violence, thus building Southeast Asia into a region of peace, stability and prosperity.

Vietnam is also obliged to international commitments and spares no efforts to promote responsible fishery management and fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, they noted.

The country has issued regulations on cyber security in line with international law, which aims to build a safe cyberspace causing no harm to national security, social order and safety, legitimate rights and benefits of agencies, organisations and individuals.

This year, Vietnam ratified and became the 10th member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as took part in the inter-governmental conference on building legal documents abiding to the UNCLOS 1982.

Vietnam officially became the 47th member of the AALCO on February 24, 2017, marking a new development step in the country’s international integration, especially in legal sector.

AALCO, originally known as the Asian Legal Consultative Committee (ALCC), was constituted on November 15, 1956. It is considered to be a tangible outcome of the historic Bandung Conference held in Indonesia in April 1955.

As the only international organisation in the world promoting solidarity among Asian and African countries in the field of international law, AALCO has involved the codification and development of international law. It gave opinion to the completion of the UNCLOS 1982.

⭕ The organisation now groups 47 member nations in both Asia and Africa.-VNA