VietNamNet Bridge - President Nguyen Minh Triet has appointed 22 new ambassadors and 11 new consul generals to serve overseas.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong

He received the diplomats at a ceremony jointly held by the Presidential Office and the Foreign Ministry in Hanoi Monday.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong was appointed as Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, while Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung would serve as the country’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“Be flexible and persuasive at work,” Triet told the newly-appointed ambassadors at the following reception.

“However, you also need to be proactive in defending our country’s national interests whenever it is needed, especially in the fields of democracy, human rights and religious affairs,” he said.

He asked the newly-appointed ambassadors and consul generals to work harder to heighten the country’s prestige globally and bolster its friendship with other nations.

The State President also asked the diplomats to study the positive points experienced by their host countries to apply them during Vietnams national construction and development process.

“In the current circumstance, you, the ambassadors, need to boost bilateral economic diplomacy,” President Triet said, advising them to link local investors and potential partners in the countries where they are posted.

He also demanded that the Vietnamese embassies and consulate generals abroad constantly strengthen Party building work and their staff’s political firmness.

“Embassies and consulate generals must be a home for all Vietnamese living abroad and encourage solidarity with international friends,” the President noted.

Newly appointed ambassadors include:

- Ambassador to the US: Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

- Ambassador to the United Nations: Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

- Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland: Vu Quang Minh, Head of the Economics Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Ambassador to France, Portugal, Monaco, Andorra, and Central African Republic: Duong Chi Dung, Head of the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Ambassador to Russia, Latvia, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan: Pham Xuan Son, Deputy Head of the Standing Board of the Commission for Foreign Relations of the Party Central Committee

- Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Committee: Pham Sanh Chau, Head of the External Culture and UNESCO Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Le Quang Ba, Head of the Department of China and Northeast Asia Affairs under the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Foreign Relations

- Ambassador to Singapore: Tran Hai Hau, Head of the Department of Southeast Asia, South Asia and South Pacific Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: VNA/Tuoi Tre