Themed "Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all", the 81st session of the UN General Assembly highlights the UN's role in maintaining peace and security, fostering sustainable development, and upholding shared human values. By attending the session and addressing the high-level general debate, General Secretary and President Lam reaffirms that cooperation with the United Nations is a cornerstone of Vietnam's foreign policy. He champions multilateralism and the central role of the UN, while pledging Vietnam's active and substantive contribution to collective efforts for peace, cooperation, and development.
A proactive and responsible Vietnam
Vietnam’s engagement in multilateral forums—particularly the UN—has shifted from mere participation to proactive contribution: shaping agendas, promoting consensus, and assuming significant responsibilities within UN mechanisms.
At this year's 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) from April 27 to May 23, Vietnam served as President, which is a more proactive role in international security matters.
Vietnam also holds positions within multilateral mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council, the International Law Commission, and UNESCO bodies. For the first time, Vietnam has a judge serving on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for the 2026–2035 term. In the realm of peacekeeping, nearly 1,400 Vietnamese officers and personnel have participated in UN missions to date, earning high praise from the UN.
Kamal Malhotra, former UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, underlines Vietnam's greater role, saying “Throughout my four-and-a-half-year tenure as the head of the UN presence in Vietnam, I witnessed Vietnam’s contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. Vietnam’s efforts have been successful on two fronts: first, the country has become a major contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan; and second, it has deployed personnel to work at the UN peacekeeping headquarters in New York. Starting from a position of having no prior involvement, Vietnam has significantly increased its contributions to the UN’s collective endeavors.”
The year 2026 also marks the initial implementation phase of the 14th National Party Congress Resolution and leads up to the 50th anniversary of Vietnam’s UN membership in 2027. Therefore, participating in the UN General Assembly debate, Vietnam will share its experiences and contribute initiatives and perspectives on pressing global issues.
As these issues are linked to Vietnam’s own development interests, addressing them allows the country to contribute to collective efforts while simultaneously leveraging resources, technology, and expertise, as well as expanding international cooperation to advance its goals of rapid and sustainable development.
“General Secretary and President To Lam will deliver a keynote address at the High-Level General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly and hold bilateral meetings with leaders of various countries and international organizations. The Party and State leader is also scheduled to meet with leaders of the US administration and Congress,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang.
Pivotal opportunity to advance Vietnam-US relations
The working visit to New York by General Secretary and President Lam takes place amid robustly advancing Vietnam-US relations, following the upgrade of the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Since early 2026, the two sides have intensified exchanges on the economy, trade, technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and energy.
Visiting Washington in July, Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung and US officials discussed cooperation in high-tech sectors, AI, semiconductors, and energy, as well as the establishment of a stable trade framework. During the upcoming visit by the Vietnamese top leader, multiple cooperation agreements between enterprises from both nations—spanning energy, technology, aviation, and finance—are expected to be announced.
“The working visit to the US by the General Secretary and President will generate fresh momentum and concrete measures to advance the Vietnam–US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a substantive and effective manner," said Vietnam’s Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc Dung.
"As science and technology are developing rapidly and impacting the future of humanity profoundly, while the global political, security, and economic landscape is evolving in a highly complex manner, strengthening substantive cooperation between Vietnam and the United States matters. Such cooperation serves the interests of both nations and contributes to peace, cooperation, and development," he added.
