(VOVworld) - Vietnam overwhelmingly won its election to the 54-member United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2016-2018 tenure with 182 out of 187 valid votes. The UN General Assembly also elected 17 other new members of the ECOSOC on October 21 to serve the three-year term beginning on January 1, 2016.

A meeting of United Nations Economic and Social Council (Photo: qdnd.vn)

This is the second time Vietnam has been elected to the ECOSOC. The country first served on the ECOSOC from 1998 through 2000. The re-election demonstrates the international community’s confidence in Vietnam and their acknowledgment of national construction and defence achievements as well as its contributions to the UN and common efforts for a better world.
ECOSOC President, Ambassador Oh Joon of the Republic of Korea, congratulated Vietnam on its election and expressed his pleasure to cooperate with a friendly country like Vietnam. Oh Joon said he hopes to partner closely with Vietnam in performing major tasks of the ECOSOC in his capacity as President. Head of the Vietnamese Mission to the UN Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga said Vietnam is well aware of its great responsibility as a new member of the ECOSOC.
Vietnam will take an active part in ECOSOC activities, mobilize social involvement, contribute to revamping the operation of the UN’s development system and effectively make progress on development cooperation to successfully implement the agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those related to poverty reduction, sustainable and comprehensive economic growth and environmental protection.

As a member of the ECOSOC, Vietnam will contribute its opinions on building policies, documents and activities of ECOSOC covering global socio-economic aspects. The country will also have more opportunities to exchange experiences with international friends in socio-economic development.