PM Pham Minh Chinh launches the MOFA’s National Database on Int'l Treaties: A shift from management to service
WVR - The launch and operation of the National Database on International Treaties marks a significant advancement in the application of science and technology, promoting digital transformation in state management of international treaties to support development.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, and Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense, Security, and Foreign Affairs Le Tan Toi press the button to launch the National Database on International Treaties. (Photo: Quang Hoa) |
On the afternoon of December 29, at the 2025 Annual Review Conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, outlining directions and key tasks for 2026, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, and Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense, Security, and Foreign Affairs Le Tan Toi pressed the button to launch the National Database on International Treaties.
On this occasion, The World and Vietnam Report had the opportunity to interview Mr. Tran Le Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Law and International Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the unit responsible for building the database.
The National Database on International Treaties has officially been launched and put into use today. Could you share your thoughts on the significance of this event?
This is a very significant event, representing a concrete step in shifting from a management mindset to a service-oriented approach.
Directive No. 56-CT/TW dated December 24, 2025, on strengthening the Party's leadership over the signing and implementation of international commitments, clearly states that international commitments are the result of foreign affairs activities and an important tool to expand and strengthen relations with countries and partners, deeply integrate into international and regional processes, contributing to the successful achievement of the country's development goals, and enhancing Vietnam's international position and reputation.
To enhance the ability to implement and leverage international commitments, it is necessary to apply science and technology, promote digital transformation in management, monitoring, and statistics; effectively perform archiving and systematization through the development of a database on international commitments; and ensure broad access for ministries, sectors, localities, and especially the public and businesses to international commitments.
International treaties constitute the largest and most important component of Vietnam's international commitments.
In the past, based on the provisions of the 2016 Law on International Treaties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has led the development and operation of a database on international treaties of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. However, due to various reasons, this database has only served the scope of state management of international treaties by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Thus, today's launch and operation of the database is a significant step forward in applying science and technology and promoting digital transformation in state management of international treaties to support development. First and foremost, it is a better implementation of the provisions of the Law on International Treaties; contributing to the digital transformation tasks outlined in strategic resolutions on national development issued by the Politburo, particularly Directive No. 56 of the Secretariat as mentioned above.
Equally important, this national database will provide comprehensive information to support advisory work, policy-making, and law development, especially in assessing the compatibility between domestic laws and international treaties, while facilitating access for agencies, organizations, the public, and businesses in searching and exploiting information.
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| Launch of the website link and QR code for the National Database on International Treaties. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
The database has been meticulously built and aims to serve the public and businesses. Could you tell us what users can access from the database?
As I mentioned earlier, the international treaties database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far only served the scope of state management of international treaties by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, we are delighted that the new database has been developed to include a public component alongside the internal management component.
The internal management component has been upgraded and expanded from the previous database to better serve state management of international treaties by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For the first time, the system is built to apply technology that supports document content recognition and suggests information needed during the dossier processing.
This approach contributes to innovating data entry and management methods, reducing previous manual operations. Tasks are performed faster and with higher accuracy, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of data entry and management. This is an important step forward in applying technology to support professional work in the field of international treaties.
The public component is the International Treaties Database Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at https://treaty.mofa.gov.vn. The website is a unified source of information and guidance on international treaties to which Vietnam is a party, supporting users in conveniently searching, exploring information, and downloading treaty documents and related documents.
Public information on international treaties is fully posted, with flexible search functions according to various criteria such as treaty name, field, signing partner, signing date, or effective date... The website is built in both Vietnamese and English, meeting the needs of both domestic and international users.
Additionally, the website provides systematic guidance on Vietnam's international treaty signing process, including related legal documents, illustrative process diagrams, and sample clauses for common provisions in international treaties. The website also introduces reference materials on the practice of signing international treaties in some countries, along with links to related domestic and international databases, serving the needs for in-depth research and study.
Users can also provide feedback, send comments, or requests to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through this website.
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| Homepage of the National Database on International Treaties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Screenshot) |
Could you tell us how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will operate this database in the future?
We are pleased with today's results, but we also clearly understand that we cannot be satisfied or stop here; we need to continue improving.
Currently, the website has updated a total of 207 international treaties, including 164 bilateral and 43 multilateral treaties that Vietnam has signed during the 13th National Party Congress term.
Thus, in the near future, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to clean and enrich the international treaties database, fully updating the international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.
At the same time, we will further promote the application of science and technology, especially artificial intelligence, in managing, operating, and exploiting the database. This will require research and synchronization with other databases that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs builds and manages. However, I believe we can think about applying AI to develop tools that allow users to directly interact with these databases and other related information and data sources online to serve very specific requirements and tasks.
In the field of international treaties, this could involve tasks such as reviewing and assessing the compatibility of international treaties and domestic laws; answering questions, and providing advice on the signing and implementation of international treaties.
This will further enhance the value of the database for ministries, sectors, the public, and businesses, meeting the requirement to shift from a management mindset to a service mindset, contributing more practically to the country's development.
Thank you very much!
