Viet Nam, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), co-organized the seminar titled “Towards Hanoi: Signing Ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime”, involving countries from the European region.

On March 26, at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna, Austria, a seminar was held to introduce the Signing Ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, scheduled to take place in Hanoi in 2025.

Although the seminar was specifically designed for European delegates, it garnered considerable attention and attracted broad participation from delegates representing countries from other geographic regions and various international organizations in Vienna.

During the seminar, Viet Nam’s inter-agency delegation, led by Ambassador Vu Le Thai Hoang, Head of the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, alongside representatives from Viet Nam’s Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provided updates on preparations for the signing ceremony scheduled for 2025 in Hanoi.

Viet Nam is closely collaborating with UNODC and international partners to ensure that the Hanoi signing ceremony is conducted with dignity, comprehensively, and generates wide-reaching impact. Viet Nam envisions this event not merely as a procedural legal formality but as a critical platform for promoting dialogue, exchanging best practices, and strengthening partnerships among governments, international organizations, and the private sector.

Viet Nam is committed to ensuring the event becomes a meaningful forum to advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime and to bolster global cooperation in combating cybercrime.

For decades, Europe has been at the forefront of efforts to build legal frameworks to combat cybercrime. The Budapest Convention, adopted by the Council of Europe in 2001, laid the foundation for global thinking on cybercrime as the first international legal instrument criminalizing cyber offenses and enhancing international cooperation.

Despite Europe’s robust legal and technical capabilities, the increasingly sophisticated nature of cybercrime continues to threaten critical infrastructure, governmental systems, and citizens’ daily lives across Europe and globally. This has created an urgent need for comprehensive, universal frameworks that complement existing legal mechanisms.

The recently adopted United Nations Convention against Cybercrime meets this demand by offering a comprehensive platform for international cooperation, procedural harmonization, and the exchange of electronic evidence, all under the auspices of the United Nations.

Viet Nam firmly believes that this new Convention does not compete but complements existing instruments, including the Budapest Convention. It expands international cooperation and reflects a shared global interest in ensuring cyberspace remains safe, secure, and regulated.

The Vietnamese delegation expressed gratitude to all countries supporting Hanoi as the chosen venue for the Convention’s signing, decided during the United Nations General Assembly session in December 2024. Viet Nam reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to close coordination with UNODC, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), and member states to swiftly bring the Hanoi Convention into force and ensure effective implementation in the future.

Representatives from UNODC and the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations in Vienna concurred with Viet Nam’s statements, reaffirming their continued support and collaboration.

Representatives from numerous European countries and other regional groups highly commended Viet Nam’s proactive preparations for the signing ceremony, committing to expedite internal procedures to participate in the Hanoi signing ceremony and swiftly ratify the Convention. They also pledged continued support and close coordination with Viet Nam to successfully host the signing ceremony in Hanoi in 2025.

Furthermore, the seminar heightened awareness regarding the complexity of cybercrime and highlighted UNODC’s collaborative efforts with international organizations such as INTERPOL to assist United Nations member states in preventing and combating cybercrime through international partnerships and cooperation.