The signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime, themed "Combating Cybercrime - Shared Responsibility - Towards the Future", will be held on 25/10 and 26/10 in Hanoi, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Luong Cuong will preside over the signing ceremony. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with high-ranking leaders from many countries, regional, and international organizations, will attend the event. The ceremony will include a plenary discussion, a high-level forum, and a side conference on international cooperation in combating cybercrime.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a press conference on 19/9 in New York, USA. Photo: AFP

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a press conference on 19/9 in New York, USA. Photo: AFP

The signing ceremony was introduced on 22/9 at the UN headquarters in New York, in an event co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Acting Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said international cooperation is essential in preventing and combating cybercrime, and will be more effective in the future with the introduction of the convention - the first global legal framework to address this issue.

UN Under-Secretary-General Ghada Waly, Director-General of UNODC, emphasized that the convention is the first UN legal document on criminal justice in over 20 years, designed to address various forms of cybercrime, both present and future.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quoc Hung affirmed that Vietnam always prioritizes ensuring cybersecurity and combating high-tech crime. Vietnam will prioritize completing its legal system to align with the convention and strengthening inter-agency coordination mechanisms for signing, ratifying, and implementing the convention.

This is the first time a Vietnamese location has been associated with a global multilateral treaty related to a field of great international concern. This marks an important milestone in Vietnam's multilateral foreign affairs history and the Vietnam-UN partnership.

The Hanoi Convention, comprising 9 chapters and 71 articles, is the result of nearly 5 years of continuous negotiations between member states to establish a comprehensive multilateral legal framework to combat crime in cyberspace.

Cybercrime, increasing in scale, complexity, and impact, caused about 8,000 billion USD in damage to the world economy in 2023 and is projected to reach 10,500 billion USD by 2025, exceeding the GDP of most of the world's largest economies.

Nguyen Tien