BASIC FACTS

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the 15th most populous country in the world and is bordered by China, Laos, and Cambodia. The process of gaining independence involved splitting Vietnam between North and South, defeating the French in the First Indochina War in 1945, and then ultimately combatting the United States in the Vietnam War until North Vietnamese victory in 1975. The country was reunified under a socialist government in 1976 and has continued to expand diplomatic relations with other countries since the Communist Party reforms of the 1980s.

Capital: Hanoi

There are no nuclear power plants or research reactors in Vietnam. From the mid-1990s the Vietnamese government was considering the construction of a nuclear power plant in partnership with Russia and Japan, but in 2016 nuclear plans were deferred in favor of gas and coal facilities.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

• Member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) since 1976
• Member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 1957
• Acceded to the 1925 Geneva Protocol in 1980
• Signed Bangkok Treaty in 1995
  • Ratified in 1996
• Signed Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972
  • Ratified in 1980
• Signed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993
  • Ratified in 1998
• Signed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996
  • Ratified in 2006
• Signed the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1981
• Acceded to the Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) in 1980
• Acceded to Outer Space Treaty in 1980
• Acceded to Sea-bed Treaty in 1980
• Acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) in 2012
• Acceded to International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2016
• Acceded to Treaty for the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1982
• Signed Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2016
  • Ratified in 2017

REGIONAL GROUPS

• Member of the Asia-Pacific Group
• Member of G-77
• Member of G-21
• Member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

RECENT REPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

• From 2013-2014, Mr. Thiep Nguyen, Governor from Vietnam, served as the IAEA Board Chair.
• Member of the 1540 Committee in 2008/2009
• Non-permanent member of the UN Security Council  in 2009/2010 and 2020-2021

LINKS

Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations - New York

Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Membership in International Organizations Related to Disarmament