Information on events organized by South China Sea Institute at the end of 2019 and early 2020

- From November 6^th-7^th, 2019, the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, the South China Sea Research Support Fund and the Vietnam Lawyers Association co-organized the 11th South China Sea International Conference themed “South China Sea: Cooperation for regional peace and development” in Hanoi. There were about 280 delegates attended the conference, including 87 international scholars, 68 representatives from 36 foreign representative agencies in Vietnam, more than 100 Vietnamese scholars, delegates, and many reporters from 58 domestic and foreign news agencies and television. After 2 active working days in an open, friendly, forthright and substantive atmosphere, with 47 speeches made and more than 250 exciting discussions and exchanges, the 11th South China Sea International Conference was a great success, demonstrating the efforts made by domestic and foreign scholars to maintain peace, stability and development in the South China Sea.

- On November 20^th, 2019, the South China Sea Institute participated in welcoming the US Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper to visit and speak at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.  Attended the event were former Vietnamese Ambassadors to the US, representatives of some units, advisors, more than 200 students, lecturers and researchers of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. In his speech, Mr. Mark Esper reaffirmed America's commitment to an international rules-based order that brought security and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific region and the need for this order to be maintained in the face of emerging challenges.  Appreciating Vietnam's growing role with the 2020 ASEAN Chair, Mr. Esper affirmed that the US will work closely with Vietnam to successfully complete this important task.

- On the morning of June 26^th, 2020, the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam held the third Hanoi Informal Meeting (HIM) with a number of embassies in Hanoi. In this meeting, the Director General of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands Ta Dinh Thi presented main contents of the “Strategy for Vietnam’s sustainable development of the marine economy to 2030 with a vision to 2045”. The meeting received great attention and high-level participation of 9 representative agencies, including the Ambassador of France, the Ambassador of New Zealand, the Deputy Ambassador of the UK, the German Representative, the Political Counsellor of the Korean Embassy, the Economic Counselor of the US Embassy and First Secretary and Attaché of the Indian and Australian Embassies.