Vietnam pays special attention to conventional arms negotiations and disarmament. Assistant to Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Nguyen Van Thao made the statement at a workshop themed “Arms Trade Treaty: national and international views: “Vietnam’s unswerving policy is supporting international efforts to achieve  comprehensive and complete disarmament. Prioritizing the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, Vietnam strictly abides by its duties and responsibilities in mechanisms relating to conventional arms, including the UN conventional weapon licensing mechanism, the Program of Action on illegal trade of light weapons. Vietnam also strictly joins the Arms Trade Treaty process, including ATT committee’ recent meetings. Vietnam proposes that related parties need to be given chances to make research and voice their opinions, which will eventually be taken into account based on consensus principles, which are stipulated in the UN General Assembly’s 6448 resolution”.

The 2 day event is jointly organized in Hanoi by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the UK Embassy in Vietnam. Vietnamese and foreign participants gave an overview on the ATT process, countries’ views on conventional weapons, international mechanisms on arms transfer and Vietnam’s mechanisms on conventional weapons. Discussions also focus on negotiations for an international treaty, which was initiated by the UN in 2006 and governs the trade of conventional weapons.