First Vietnamese representative appointed to UN International Law Commission

By Viet Anh November 3, 2016 | 11:47 pm PT

The ambassador won one of seven seats allocated to the Asia Pacific region.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Hong Thao was appointed to the United Nations’ International Law Commission on November 3, according to Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry.

first-vietnamese-representative-appointed-to-un-international-law-commission

Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Hong Thao. Photo by the Vietnam News Agency.

Winning 120 of the 190 votes cast, Ambassador Thao won one of the seven seats the commission allocated for the Asia-Pacific region.

The ambassador is an expert in international law with 40 years of experience. He was deputy head of the National Border Committee, head of the negotiation team on border agreements with neighboring countries, a legal advisor to Vietnam’s 2012 Law of the Sea and now Vietnam’s Ambassador to Kuwait.

The other six representatives from the Asia-Pacific region are from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

The International Law Commission focuses on drafting international conventions and studying major issues of international law. The commission comprises 34 members elected every five years and working independently from the countries that nominate them.

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