Vietnam attends Baku Summit of Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group

The summit was chaired by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and featured the participation of numerous leaders, foreign ministers, and ambassadors from NAM member countries, as well as representatives from international organizations, observers, and guests of Azerbaijan ahead of the Central Asian country taking over the NAM chairmanship.

NAM member countries acknowledged the movement's various contributions to COVID-19 prevention and control activities. In the last three years, the pandemic has contributed to widening the rich-poor gap, seriously affecting socio-economic development in developing countries, especially those in Africa and small island countries.

Furthermore, a third of the world's population has yet to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with forecast being that the world will not be able to avoid new pandemics in the future, meaning humanity must prepare for potential pandemics and the possible consequences of them.

Due to the consequences of the pandemic being increasingly multi-dimensional, along with geopolitical tensions, global economic crisis, and non-conventional challenges, the countries emphasised the role of multilateral co-operation in general and NAM in particular as part of the post-pandemic recovery process.

Representatives of numerous countries called for the lifting of restrictions on vaccine exports, thereby strengthening health capacity building, sharing experiences, and transferring biotechnology.

At the same time, they reaffirmed their commitment to promoting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and highlighted the urgency to develop a vision and strategy for NAM in order to ensure the common interests of member countries during the post-pandemic period.

At the summit, Ambassador Khoi shared the Vietnamese experience in COVID-19 prevention and control, as well as post-pandemic recovery efforts.

He therefore emphasized the country’s policies of putting people at the centre of its plans and its duals goals for both disease control and socio-economic development.

As a means of further promoting recovery in the post-COVID era, the nation suggested that NAM work to strengthen solidarity based on respecting the sovereignty and diversity of members, thereby upholding the voice of members at international forums, promoting co-operation mechanisms within the NAM framework, and implementing people-centered recovery policies, Ambassador Khoi said.

The summit was closed on March 3 with the issuance of a summary statement of host country. Azerbaijan will continue to hold NAM Chairmanship until the end of the year before handing it over to Uganda.