The ceremony was held on the morning of July 2 at Reunification Hall in Ho Chi Minh City.
The event was organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
The event was attended by incumbent and former senior Party and State leaders, including former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh; former State Presidents Nguyen Minh Triet and Truong Tan Sang; former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man; former National Assembly Chairpersons Nguyen Van An and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, along with other current and former senior officials.
Participants also included leaders of ministries, central agencies, localities, former leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces and Heroes of Labor.
The ceremony was the centerpiece of the city's commemorative activities, reaffirming the historical significance of the National Assembly's decision to rename Saigon-Gia Dinh as Ho Chi Minh City on July 2, 1976.
During the event, Tran Luu Quang, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, delivered a commemorative speech reviewing the city's achievements over the past five decades.
In his address, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam highlighted the city's contributions to Vietnam's development before presenting the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee with a statue of President Ho Chi Minh.
The anniversary is accompanied by a series of political, cultural, artistic and sporting events, as well as groundbreaking ceremonies for major infrastructure projects and the launch of a special patriotic emulation campaign.
According to organizers, the activities are intended to commemorate the historic significance of the city's renaming, celebrate its achievements over the past half-century and inspire unity, dynamism and innovation as Ho Chi Minh City enters a new stage of development.
A special live television program is scheduled for the evening of July 2, with the main venue at Reunification Hall and satellite locations in the city's new urban center in Binh Duong Ward and Tam Thang Square in Vung Tau Ward.
The broadcast will also feature live segments from Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, the Kim Lien National Special Relic Site in Nghe An Province, Con Dao Special Zone, and the Naval Region 4 Command in Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa Province.
