On the occasion of the 94th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Party General Secretary Prof. Nguyen Phu Trong pens an article titled "Proud and confident under the Party's glorious flag, determined to build a Vietnam more prosperous, powerful, civilised, heroic with a fine and long lasting culture."
Vietnam News Agency runs the full translation of the article:
"As we all know, the Communist Party of Vietnam was founded on February 3, 1930. This means that on February 3, 2025, our Party will be 95 years old and turn 100 in 2030. These are shining milestones of great historical significance to our Party, our country and our nation. At present, the entire of our Party, people, and army are joining hands and taking every chance and advantages to weather every difficulty and challenge with a determination to successfully realise many policies, goals, and tasked included in the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. At the same time, we start the preparations for Party congresses at all levels, moving toward the 14th National Party Congress.
The 14th National Party Congress will conduct a profound review and evaluation of the implementation of the 13th National Party Congress's resolution, summarise the 40 years of implementing the national renewal process in the orientation to socialism and, on the basis of which, draw valuable lessons; determine the orientation, goals, and tasks for the entire of our Party, people, and army for the next five years spanning from 2026 to 2030; and continue to successfully implement the 10-year socio-economic development strategy (2021-2030). The 14th Congress will be another important milestone in the development path of our country and nation, having the future-orienting significance; encourage, inspire, and motivate the entire of our Party, people, and army to continue persisting the way to socialism; affirm that this is the righteous and clear-minded selection which is suitable to the reality in Vietnam and the development trend of the time; continue to comprehensively and concertedly push up the renewal cause, firmly safeguard the Motherland; and strive to turn our country into a developing one with a modern industry and high middle income by 2030 when we mark the Party's centenary.
To actively contribute to the celebration of the Party's anniversary on February 3, 2024, instilling the pride of the glorious Party, the great President Ho Chi Minh and the heroic Vietnamese nation; to further fortify confidence in the Party's leadership and the bright future of our nation and people; and to further raise the sense of responsibility of officials and Party members across the entire political system, to continue bringing into play the spirit of patriotism and revolution spirit of the entire nation, to stay determined to build our country more and more prosperous, civilised, cultured and heroic; it is necessary for us to objectively and comprehensively review and assess the main outcomes, achievements, and lessons learnt throughout our Party's historical stages, including (1) The Party's inception, leading the revolution, and gaining of power (1930-1945); (2) The nationwide resistance war and restoration of peace in the North (1946-1954); (3) The building of socialism in the North, the struggle for liberation of the South, and the national reunification (1955-1975); (4) Settling the consequences of war, safeguarding the territorial integrity of the Motherland, and gradual progressing towards socialism (1976-1985); (5) Launching of the renewal cause, building our country to be more modern, beautiful; expanding international relations, proactively and actively integrating into the global community in a comprehensive and extensive way; our country has never had such a fortune, potential, status and international prestige like it does today (1986-now); and (6) Looking ahead to 2030, the centenary of the Party. On the basis of this, tasks and solutions can be worked out to continue raising the Party's leadership and power holding capacity; push up concertedly and comprehensively the renewal cause; and successfully achieve the goals set forth by the 13th National Party Congress, which are to build our country increasingly prosperous, democratic, civilised, prosperous, and happy in the direction toward socialism by 2025 and 2030. This article is one of the ideas in line with the spirit mentioned above and is presented in a structure comprising three main parts as follows:
PART 1: OUR PARTY CAME INTO BEING, LED THE STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, LIBERATION OF THE SOUTH, AND NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
The millennia-long history of our nation has proven that patriotism, defence of the country, determination to fight foreign aggressions, safeguard of national independence, sovereignty and unity are traditions of the extreme value of our people. Continuing this tradition, from the mid-19th century when French colonialists invaded our homeland, our people repeatedly rose up struggling through patriotic, continuous and strong movements through many ways with different trends, refusing to succumb to slavery. From the ways for national salvation by scholars to peasants' uprisings and the bourgeoisie revolutionary paths, despite their staunch efforts, whole-hearted dedication and immense sacrifices, these movements failed to arrive at success due to their historical limitations, especially the absence of a correct path. History demanded a new path to be found.
In 1911, the young patriot Nguyen Tat Thanh [our beloved Uncle Ho] left the country to seek a new way for national salvation and the struggle for national independence. Driven by a burning aspiration to save the country, he approached Marxism-Leninism and found in this revolutionary doctrine the right path for national salvation – that of proletarian revolution. Throughout the many years of intensive travels and activities overseas, he persisted in studying and creatively applying Marxism-Leninism and incrementally disseminated it to Vietnam, while strenuously preparing conditions necessary for the establishment of a genuine revolutionary party.
On February 3, 1930, a conference on merging communist organisations was convened in Kowloon, Hong Kong (China) under the chair of leader Nguyen Ai Quoc decided to merge the then communist organisations in Vietnam into a single party which was named the Communist Party of Vietnam. It is a historic turning-point, putting an end to the protracted crisis in the organisation and guidelines of the Vietnamese revolution.
The birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam was the result of the convergence of Marxism-Leninism and the workers’ and patriotic movements, showing that the Vietnamese working class had matured and had sufficient capacity to shoulder the historic mission of leadership over the revolution. The Party’s first Political Platform adopted at this founding conference identified the fundamental path for the Vietnamese revolution that met the urgent demand of the Nation and the impassioned aspiration of the People.
Within a mere 15 years since its founding, in flesh-and-blood bond with the population, and enjoying their full support and trust, our Party led the national liberation struggle and conducted three revolutionary high-tides: the 1930-1931 high-tide that culminated in the Nghe Tinh -Soviet movement, the 1936-1939 high-tide demanding social welfare and democracy, and the 1939-1945 high-tide of the national liberation revolution, so that in 1945, when the time for the revolution was ripe, the Communist Party of Vietnam led the entire Vietnamese nation to the landslide victory of the August 1945 Revolution and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945 (the 80th anniversary of which will be celebrated in 2025).
Hardly had the Democratic Republic of Vietnam been born when the revolution was to face numerous difficulties and challenges, among them the simultaneous confrontation with a three-fold enemy, namely hunger, illiteracy and foreign invasions. In such a time of great peril, the Party led our people through the situation which was “hung by a hair,” unyieldingly safeguarding and building the infantile government, while proactively making all-round preparations to embark upon the war of resistance against the French colonialists.
Following the direction of an “all-people,” “all-sided,” “long-term” and “essentially self-reliant” war of resistance, and building on the tradition of national unity and patriotism, our Party led the people to successively defeat all of the enemy’s schemes and plans of aggression. Of special significance was the victory of the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring Operation, with its culmination being the historic Dien Bien Phu victory that “resounded over the five continents and shook the globe,” and that drove the French colonialists into signing the Geneva Accords in 1954, thus ending their war of aggression against Vietnam.
From 1955 to 1975, our country was divided into two parts. Under the leadership of the Party, the North exerted great efforts to build socialism and fight the destruction war conducted by US imperialists., while devoting all of its energy to fulfilling the duty of a great rear to the great frontline in the south. The people of the South continued their undaunted struggle for national independence and reunification. Imbued with the spirit “We would rather sacrifice all than surrendering our country and being enslaved” and “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,” following the Party’s sound and creative guidelines, and thanks to the entire nation’s aggregate strength, our armed forces and people successively defeated the American imperialists’ war strategies, completely liberated the South, and reunified the country on April 30, 1975. This victory will “be written in the history of our nation eternally as one of most glorious pages and a bright symbol of a complete victory of revolutionary heroism and Vietnamese people’s wisdom, and go down in world history as a great feat of the 20th century and an event of pivotal international importance and profound epoch-making magnitude” (we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of national reunification in 2025).
While having to work to urgently address extremely grave war aftermaths, the Vietnamese people continued to confront newly staged wars. Under the Party’s leadership, our armed forces and people focused on socio-economic restoration while fighting to defend our borderlines and safeguarding our sacred national independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. All the while, we succeeded in fulfilling the international duty of helping the Cambodian people escape from genocide and revive their country.
Looking back at the 1930-1975 journey, we are very proud, confident and deeply grateful to the sound leadership of the Party and the great Uncle Ho that led the Vietnamese revolution from one resounding victory to another, continuing to write brilliant golden pages in the history of the civilised and heroic Vietnamese nation which is admired and appreciated by the world: Successfully carrying out the resounding August Revolution, helping people gained power and taking our country out of colonialism in 1945; The long resistance war against the French colonialists ended with the Geneva Agreement and Dien Bien Phu victory that resounded over the five continents and shock the globe; Building socialism and fighting against the destructive war of US imperialism in the North, while engaging in the resistance war to save the country, liberate the South, re-unify the country, ending with the Dien Bien Phu in the air and the historic Ho Chi Minh campaigns.”
PART 2
THE PARTY’S LEADERSHIP OVER THE SETTLEMENT OF WAR CONSEQUENCES; THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RENEWAL CAUSE AND INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION; THE BUILDING OF AN INCREASINGLY PROSPEROUS AND BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
After the national reunification, our country had to face many of very heavy consequences left by the 30 years of war. To address war consequences and continue building socialism nationwide, our Party focused its leadership over the building and implementation of the five-year socio-economic development plans for 1976 - 1980 and 1981 - 1985. As a result, socio-economic infrastructure, especially industrial, agricultural, healthcare, education - training, transport, and irrigation facilities were gradually recovered. The state economy and collective economy were nurtured and contributed much to national development.
However, in the face of new requirements during the cause of Motherland construction and defence in peacetime, to address shortcomings of the mechanism of bureaucratic central planning and subsidisation, which led to a socio-economic crisis in post-war years, basing on the summarisation of the people’s initiatives and creations in reality, our Party carried out Doi moi (Renewal), firstly renewing the theoretical mindset about socialism, part by part in agriculture, industry and gradually shaping the country’s Doi moi policy. Basing on in-depth analysis of the country’s situation and examination of reality, in the spirit of “straightforwardly looking at the truth, making precise assessment of the truth, clarifying the truth” and “reforming mindset”, the 6th National Party Congress (December 1986) identified a Doi moi policy for comprehensively renewing the country, marking an important turning point on the path of transition to socialism in Vietnam. The Doi moi policy has met requirements of the reality, reflected the firm mettle and creative mindset of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and heralded a new period of national development.
After the 6th National Congress, the Party gradually perfected and concretised the Doi moi policy, whose basic and core content is shown in the Platform on national construction in the period of transition to socialism (the 1991 Platform and the 2011 Platform that contains supplements and developments) and the Party’s important documents at national congresses. In the 1990s, surmounting challenges posed by the collapse of the model of socialist realism in the Soviet Union and East European countries, the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people stayed persistent and continued taking firm and creative steps on the path to socialism in a manner matching Vietnam’s concrete conditions and characteristics. The Party Central Committees from the 6th to the 13th tenure have issued many resolutions on the fundamental and pivotal issues of the Party and national development.
By now, although there remain some issues needing further research, we have shaped the general awareness: The socialist society that the Vietnamese people are striving for is one where people are rich; the country is strong, democratic, fair, and civilised; the people hold the mastery; the economy is highly developed on the basis of modern production forces and suitable progressive production relations; the culture is advanced and deeply imbued with the national identity; the people enjoy a wealthy, free, and happy life and have conditions to develop comprehensively; ethnic groups in the Vietnamese community are equal, united, respect and assist one another for common development; the law-governed socialist State of the people, by the people, and for the people is led by the Communist Party; and friendly and cooperative relations with countries around the world are formed.
To that end, we identified the need to step up national industrialisation and modernisation in tandem with developing a knowledge-based economy; develop a socialist-oriented market economy; build an advanced culture deeply imbued with national identity, develop humans, improve people’s material and spiritual lives, and carry out social progress and equality; firmly ensure national defence and security, social order and safety; implement the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, and proactive, active, comprehensive and intensive integration into the world; build socialist democracy, bring into play the will and strength of the great national solidarity combined with the strength of the era; build a law-governed socialist State of the people, by the people, and for the people; and build the Party and political system into a clean and comprehensively strong ones.
The more directions it gave in reality, our Party has become further aware of the fact that the transition to socialism is a long-term and extremely difficult and complicated cause, since it has to make profound changes in nature to all areas of the social life. Vietnam has been advancing towards socialism from a backward agricultural country which skipped capitalism, had very-low-level production forces, and underwent tens of years of war that left very serious consequences while hostile forces have frequently sought ways for sabotage, making the cause even more difficult and complicated. Therefore, it is necessary to undergo a long-term transitional period with many steps, many economic and social forms intertwined, along with the conflict between the old and the new. Skipping capitalism means skipping the regime of capitalist oppression, injustice, and exploitation; and skipping bad habits, vices, and the political institutions and regimes unsuitable to the socialist regime, not the civilised achievements and values that humankind obtained during the development of capitalism. Of course, the inheritance of these achievements must also be conducted in a selective manner basing in the viewpoint of science and development.
Introducing the concept of developing a socialist-oriented market economy is a highly fundamental and creative theoretical breakthrough by our Party, and an important theoretical achievement over nearly 40 years of implementing the Doi moi policy on the basis of the reality in Vietnam and the selective acquisition of the world’s experiences. According to our awareness, the socialist-oriented market economy is a modern market economy integrating into the world, fully and comprehensively operating in accordance with the rules of a market economy, managed by the law-governed socialist State, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, and complying with the socialist orientation to reach the target of rich people, a strong country, and a fair, democratic, and civilised society. It is a new type of market economy in the history of market economy; a new type of economic organisation complying with the rules of a market economy while, at the same time, basing on and being led and controlled by the principles and nature of socialism, shown in all the three aspects of ownership, management, and distribution. This is not a capitalist market economy nor a full socialist market economy (because our country is still in the transitional period).
In a socialist-oriented market economy, there are various forms of ownership and diverse economic sectors. The economic sectors operating lawfully are all important components of the economy, equal before the law, together developing permanently, cooperating and competing healthily. Among these, the State economy plays the dominant role; the collective and cooperative economies are constantly strengthened and developed; the private economy serves as a significant driving force of the economy; and the foreign-invested economy is encouraged to develop suitable to the socio-economic development strategies and plans. The distribution relation ensures fairness and provides impetus for development; the distribution regime is implemented mainly on the basis of labour outcomes and economic efficiency, as well as the level of contribution of capital and other resources, and distribution through the social security system and social welfare. The State manages the economy through laws, strategies, plannings, plans, policies, and material forces to guide, regulate, and boost the socio-economic development.
A fundamental characteristic and an important attribute of the socialist orientation in the market economy in Vietnam is the compulsory integration of the economy with the society, the harmonisation of economic policies with social ones, and the linkage between economic growth and the realisation of social progress and social justice at every step, every policy, and throughout the development process. This means that progress and social justice should not come until the economy reaches a high level of development, nor should they be sacrificed for the sake of purely economic growth. On the contrary, each economic policy must aim at social development, while each social policy must aim to generate impetus to economic development; legal fortune making must go hand in hand with sustainable hunger elimination and poverty reduction, and support for those who contributed to the nation, and disadvantaged people. This is a principled requirement to ensure a healthy and sustainable development in line with the orientation to socialism.
We consider culture as the spiritual foundation of society, an intrinsic strength, a driving force for national development and protection; take the development of culture in a concerted and harmonious way with economic growth, social progress, and social justice as a fundamental orientation of the process of building socialism in Vietnam. The culture we build is an advanced one, imbued with national identity; one united in diversity, based on progressive and humane values; Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology play a leading role in the social spiritual life. We inherit and promote the fine traditional values of all ethnic groups within the country, absorb the achievements and essence of the human culture, and strive to build a civilised and healthy society for genuine human interests and dignity, with higher levels of knowledge, ethics, physical fitness, lifestyle, and aesthetics. Our Party has always taken human beings to the central position in any development strategy; cultural development and human development as both the goals and the driving force of the Doi moi process; the development of education - training and science - technology as the top national policy; environmental protection as one of the vital issues and a criterion for sustainable development; building happy and progressive families as the solid and healthy cells of society; and achieving gender equality as a criterion for progress and civilisation.
Socialist society is one that aims for progressive and humane values, on the basis that the common interests of the whole society go in harmony with the just interests of individuals, totally different in terms of nature from those that compete to seize individual and group interests. Therefore, it needs and has conditions to build social consensus instead of social opposition or conflict. In the socialist political system, the relationship between the Party, the State, and the people is one among entities unified in terms of goals and interests. All guidelines of the Party, all policies, laws, and activities of the State are for the benefit of the people, with the people's happiness being the goal to strive for. The political model and general governing mechanism is the Party's leadership, the State's management and the people's mastery. Democracy is the essence of the socialist system, both as a goal and a driving force in the construction of socialism and a socialist democratic society, and ensuring genuine power belongs to the people is a vital long-term task of the Vietnamese revolution. Our Party advocates constantly promoting democracy, building a socialist rule-of-law state that truly belongs to the people, by the people, and for the people, based on the alliance of workers, farmers, and intellectuals under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State represents the people's ownership and also organises the implementation of the Party's guidelines. There are mechanisms to enable the people to exercise direct ownership and representative democracy in various areas of social life and participate in social management. We recognise that the socialist rule-of-law state is, in its nature, different from the bourgeois rule-of-law state at the point that the rule of law under capitalism, in its nature, serves as a tool to protect and serve the interests of the capitalist class, while the rule of law under socialism is a tool to express and realise the people's mastery, ensuring and protecting the interests of the majority of the people. Through law enforcement, the State guarantees the conditions for the people to be the subjects of political power, and exercises dictatorship against any actions of harming the interests of the nation and the people. At the same time, our Party determines that the great national solidarity is a source of strength and a decisive factor that ensures the sustainable success of the revolutionary cause in Vietnam; and continuously promotes equality and unity among ethnic groups and religions.
Deeply recognising the leadership of the Communist Party is the factor that decides the success of the renewal process and ensures that the country develops in the orientation to socialism, we attach particular importance to the work of building and rectifying the Party, taking it as the key task with vital significance for the Party and the socialist regime. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the vanguard of the Vietnamese working class; the Party was born, exists, and develops for the interests of the working class, the working people, and the entire nation. When the Party holds power and leads the entire nation, it is recognised by the entire people as their leader and therefore the Party is the vanguard of the working class, the working people, and the entire Vietnamese nation. However, this does not mean belittling the class nature of the Party, but rather reflects a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the class nature of the Party, as the working class has interests that are unified with those of the working people, and the entire nation. Our Party persists taking Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology as the ideological foundation and the loadstar for revolutionary actions, and democratic centralism as the fundamental organisational principle. The Party exerts its leadership through its platform, strategies, and orientations on major policies and guidelines; through communication, persuasion, mobilisation, organisation, inspection, supervision and through the exemplary actions of Party members; and leading the personnel work in a unified way. Mindful of the risks that the Party can face of corruption, bureaucracy, degeneration, etc., especially in the context of a market economy, the Communist Party of Vietnam has set the requirement for constant self-renewal, self-rectification, and the struggle against opportunism, individualism, corruption, bureaucracy, wastefulness, degeneration, etc., within the Party and the entire political system.
The Doi moi (renewal) process, including the development of a socialist-oriented market economy, has gained achievements of historical significance, bringing great and tangible changes to the country over nearly 40 years. These efforts have helped "our country never enjoy such fortune, power, international standing, and prestige as does today.
From a semi-feudal colony, our country has become an independent and sovereign country spanning 330,000 square kilometres from Huu Nghi Quan (the Friendship Gate) to Ca Mau Cape with more than 3,200 km of coastline and political and economic geography of special significance. Prior to the “Doi moi” process (1986), Vietnam used to be a poor and war-torn country, with huge consequences on human lives, infrastructure, and ecological environment. After the wartime, the US and Western countries imposed trade embargo on Vietnam for nearly 20 years. The regional and international situation was also complicated, causing many disadvantages for us. With a serious shortage of food and essential goods, people's lives were extremely difficult, with about three-quarters of the population living below the poverty line.
Thanks to the implementation of the renovation policy, the economy has developed and grown stronger for the past 40 years, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 7%. The GDP (gross domestic product) has continued to expand, reaching around 430 billion USD in 2023, making Vietnam the fifth largest economy in ASEAN and the 35th among the 40 largest economies in the world. The per capita GDP increased 58 times to approximately 4,300 USD in 2023. Vietnam exited the group of low-income countries in 2008 and is poised to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030, with an expected income of around 7,500 USD. From a country grappling with chronic food shortages, Vietnam has not only ensured food security but has also emerged as a leading global exporter of rice and various agricultural products. The industrial and service sectors have developed rapidly, accounting for around 88% of the GDP. The total import-export turnover has soared, reaching nearly 700 billion USD in 2023. Of this, exports amounted to over 355 billion USD, resulting in a record trade surplus of 28 billion USD. Vietnam has now become the 22nd largest global trading partner. Foreign exchange reserves have strongly surged, hitting 100 billion USD in 2023. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into the country has grown continuously, with total registered capital increasing by 32%, and disbursed capital rising by 3% to 23 billion USD in 2023 – the highest so far. Vietnam has become one of the leading ASEAN countries in attracting FDI. The country leaped two places in the Global Innovation Index (GII) in 2023, ranking 46th out of 132 countries and territories worldwide.
Currently, Vietnam is in a golden population period with a population exceeding 100 million in 2023 (the figure was just over 20 million, 47 million, and 61 million in 1945, 1975, and 1986, respectively), ranking 16th globally, including approximately 53 million people aged 15 and above. With 54 ethnic groups, the great national solidarity has been constantly promoted. The quality of the population has gradually improved, along with the development of health care, education, training, science, and technology, which is considered a top national policy. Currently, the country has 12.5 doctors and 32 hospital beds per 10,000 people. Alongside China, Vietnam has been recognised by the World Bank as a pioneer in educational reform, achieving remarkable progress.
Economic development has helped the country escape the socio-economic crises in the 1980s and significantly improve the life of the people. The poverty rate has decreased by about 1.5% annually, dropping to 2.93% in accordance with the multidimensional poverty standard in 2023 from 58% under the old standard in 1993. So far, 78% of the total communes nationwide have met new-style rural area standards; most rural communes have roads leading to central areas, gain access to the national electricity grid, have primary and secondary schools, health care stations and telephone networks. The urbanisation process has been stepped up in conjunction with the industrialisation and modernisation of the country. The urbanisation rate has reached about 43%. The economic and social infrastructure systems in both rural and urban areas, especially those for health care, education and training, transport, and post and telecommunications, have experienced robust development. Many modern airports and seaports have been put into operation, along with over 1,900 km of expressways. Meanwhile, 4G and 5G networks have widely covered many areas across the country.
While it could not ensure free education for everyone at all education levels, Vietnam has concentrated on eradicating illiteracy and completing universalisation of primary and secondary education in 2000 and 2014, respectively. The number of university and college students has increased nearly 20 times over the past four decades. Currently, Vietnam has nearly 99% of the total adults who can read and write. While the country could not provide free health care services for the entire population, Vietnam has expanded both mandatory and voluntary health insurance coverage, reaching a rate of 93.35% now (compared to only 5.4% in 1993).
Additionally, attention has been paid to strengthening preventive health care, disease prevention and control, and supporting individuals facing difficult circumstances. Many prevalent diseases have been successfully controlled. Health insurance is provided free of charge for the poor, under-six-year-old children, and the elderly. The malnutrition rate in children and the infant mortality rate have decreased by nearly three times. The average life expectancy of Vietnamese people increased from 62 in 1990 to 73.7 in 2023. Thanks to economic development, we can better care for revolution contributors and heroic Vietnamese mothers, as well as take care of the graves of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the homeland. Cultural life has also seen significant improvement, with diverse cultural activities. Nearly 80% of the population in Vietnam has got access to the Internet, positioning itself among the nations with the highest rate of information technology development in the world. The UN has recognised Vietnam as one of the leading countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In 2022, Vietnam's Human Development Index (HDI) reached 0.737, placing it in the group of countries with a high HDI worldwide, especially in comparison to nations with higher development levels. Vietnam's Happiness Index in 2023 ranked 65th among 137 countries and territories around the world.
During the national construction and development in peace, the Party has still paid great attention to the leadership over the implementation of the Motherland defence tasks by issuing and directing the successful realisation of many national defence strategies in different periods. The latest in this regard is the resolution released at the eighth session of the 13th Party Central Committee on protecting the Motherland in the new situation that affirms the need to always maintain and strengthen the Party’s absolute and direct leadership in all aspects, as well as the State's centralised and unified management and administration for the cause of building and protecting the Motherland. It underlined the need to count on the people, take the people as the root, inspire and promote the spirit of self-reliance and resilience as well as the cultural tradition, patriotism and the strength from the great national solidarity bloc, build the “people-based defence” and consider the people as the decisive factor in the success of the cause of building and defending the Motherland.
The strategy clarifies the task of ensuring national interests at the highest level on the basis of fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law in an equal and cooperative manner for mutual benefit. It highlights the need to prioritise the successful and concerted implementation of political tasks in which socio-economic development is the core, Party building the key, promoting culture the spiritual foundation, and ensuring defence, security a major and regular mission. The strategy also underscores the adequate investment in the building of the all-people defence, people-based security and people’s armed forces, thus meeting the requirements in defending the Motherland early and from afar, safeguarding the country before it is threatened, absolutely avoiding being passive and taken by surprise under any circumstance. Combining the national strength with the strength of the era, promoting the active and proactive integration and enhancing the efficiency of international cooperation are also major contents of the strategy.
Thanks to that, the all-people defence and people-based security have been reinforced and strengthened with enhanced efficiency, while the national sovereignty, the peaceful environment and stability have been maintained, and the social safety ensured. The people’s army and the people’s public security have received investment to become more elite, neat, and strong in terms of politics, ideology, weapons and equipment following the motto of paying first attention to the people and the second to weapons, step by step advancing to a more modern version, with some arms and forces straightly reaching modernity. Complexities in the sea and the borderline have been settled in a flexible, effective, and suitable way. Measures to ensure political security, order, and social safety have been strengthened; criminals of various kinds suppressed; and security and safety of important political event of the country ensured. Wrongful and distorting viewpoints and ideology from hostile forces and reactionary organisations have been refuted, and straightforward dialogues conducted with people with different stances. Vietnam ranked 41st out of the 163 countries and territories in the 2023 Global Peace Index. Our country has been described by foreign investors and international visitors as the world's leading attractive and safe destination.
Looking back on the past external relations path, we are delighted and proud that during the nearly 40 years of renewal, the Party has inherited and promoted national identity, roots and traditions, selectively absorbed the world's quintessence and progressive ideas of the time, developed the theoretical foundation of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology, formed a very special and unique school of foreign affairs and diplomacy imbued with the identity of "Vietnamese bamboo", which is steadfast in principles and flexible in strategy; soft, smart but also very resilient and determined; flexible, creative but very brave and firm in the face of all difficulties and challenges, for the independence and freedom of the nation and the happiness of the people. It upholds solidarity and compassion but is always resolute and persistent in protecting national interests. As a result, from a country under blockade and embargo, our country has now expanded and deepened diplomatic relations with 193 countries, including special relations with three countries, comprehensive strategic partnership with six countries, and strategic partnership with 12 countries. In particular, our country has now established comprehensive strategic partnerships or strategic partnerships with all the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, while broadened its economic and trade relations with 230 countries and territories.
Vietnam has been well performing its role as a friend and trustworthy partner of the international community, raising many initiatives and proposals, and actively and effectively participating in activities of ASEAN, the United Nations, and many other international organisations. External relations activities have bustled and continued, becoming a bright spot of 2023 with many important results and achievements with historical significance. High-ranking leaders of our Party and State have paid official visits to many countries and attended many major international forums, which produced many important results. The successful hosting of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, and President of the Cambodian People’s Party Hun Sen and many State leaders has made historical events, contributing to affirming that “Vietnam has enjoyed such international standing and reputation like never before”.
The great achievements with historical significance recorded during the Doi moi cause initiated, led and implemented by the Party, are the crystalisation of creativity, the result of a process of persistent and continuous efforts over many terms of the entire of our Party, people, and army, continuing to affirm that our path towards socialism is proper and consistent with objective rule, Vietnamese practice and the development trend of the time, that our Party's innovation path is correct and creative, and that the Party's leadership is the decisive factor determining all the victories of the Vietnamese revolution. The Party's political platform has continued to be the ideological and theoretical flag that leads our nation in the path of comprehensively and concertedly promoting the reform process, and the foundation for our Party to perfect its policy of building and protecting the socialist Vietnamese Motherland in the new period.
The rich and vivid reality of the Vietnamese revolution from the day the Party was established to now has proven that the correct and clear-sighted leadership by the Party is the leading factor determining all the victories of the revolution, creating many miracles for Vietnam. On the other hand, through the process of revolutionary leadership, our Party is trained and has become increasingly mature, worthy of its role and mission of leading the revolution leadership and deserving the trust and expectation of the people. Such a reality affirms this one truth: In Vietnam, there is no other political force other than the Communist Party of Vietnam that has adequate mettle, wisdom, experience, prestige, and capability to lead the country through all the hardships and trials, and to bring our nation’s revolutionary cause from one victory to another. And right in that process, our Party has accumulated and drawn many invaluable lessons, forging glorious traditions for which we have the responsibility to try our best to preserve and promote. It is the tradition of infinite loyalty to the national and class interest, and persistence in the goal and ideal of national independence closely linked with socialism based on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought. It is the tradition of solid maintenance of independence and autonomy in guidelines; firm grasp, creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism, and due reference to international experience with a view to working out sound policies and organising the effective execution of revolutionary tasks. It is the tradition of flesh-and-blood bond between the Party and the people, and consistent idea of serving the people as both raison d’etre and goal in life and work. It is the tradition of solidarity and unanimity, with the close organisation and discipline, and strictness and transparency based on democratic centralism, self-criticism, criticism and comradeship. It is the tradition of faithful and crystal-clear internationalist solidarity built on lofty principles and goals. With all the modesty of revolutionaries, we can still say: “How great our Party is! How heroic our people are! Never before has our country enjoyed such a fortune, strength, international position, and prestige as today”.
PART III
FURTHER PROMOTING GLORIOUS PATRIOTIC AND REVOLUTIONARY TRADITIONS, RESOLVING TO SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS TO 2025 AND 2030, BUILDING AN INCREASINGLY WEALTHY, STRONG, CIVILISED AND HEROIC VIETNAM
We are proud and confident to move forward under the glorious flag of the Party in the context of numerous big difficulties and challenges in addition to opportunities and advantages in the world and domestic situations. Around the world, strategic competition, economic competition, and trade war continue to take place fiercely; disputes over sea and island sovereignty are becoming complicated; military conflicts in several regions of the world are impacting geopolitics, geo-economics, energy security and global supply chains; science-technology and the fourth Industrial Revolution are developing strongly, creating both new opportunities and challenges for all countries and peoples; climate change, natural disasters, epidemics and both traditional and non-traditional security issues have created increasingly strong and multi-faceted impacts, which can seriously threaten the stability and sustainability of the world, the region, and our country… Domestically, we are still facing a lot of difficulties and great challenges: To complete the socio-economic development goals set by the 13th National Party Congress, the average growth rate in the six years from 2024 - 2030 must reach about 8%, the processing, the manufacturing-processing and service sectors must develop more strongly, expanding by about 4.5 percentage points in contribution to economic growth, which is a very high level, requiring us to have high determination and great efforts to achieve. The financial and monetary markets, especially the real estate, stock and corporate bond markets, will develop complicatedly and pose many potential risks. The liquidity of some poor-performing commercial banks, and large enterprises and projects will face many difficulties. Bank interest rates are still high, inflationary pressure remains big. Production and business activities in some industries and fields show a declining trend; the number of businesses withdrawing from the market increases; many enterprises have to reduce workforce and working hours, or lay off workers; and the life of workers faces many difficulties. Disbursement of public investment capital has yet to meet requirements. The value of newly registered, additionally-registered foreign investment capital, and capital contribution or share purchase reduces. The growth rate of state budget revenue shows signs of decline; banks’ bad debt and tax debt tend to increase; and ensuring economic security, cyber security, social order and safety, and caring for and protecting people's health are still major issues with many difficulties and challenges that need to be overcome.
The organisation of the implementation of laws, policies, and performing public duties is still a weak link; discipline and order in many places are not strict, and there is even a phenomenon of avoiding and shifting responsibility; some will try to take good things for their own unit or themselves while passing anything that is difficult to society, to other units and other people. Meanwhile, bad, hostile and reactionary forces continue to take advantage of this situation to push the implementation of the "peaceful evolution" strategy, promote "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" among us to sabotage our Party, State and regime.
The above situation requires us absolutely to be neither subjective, complacent with the results and achievements we have gained, nor too pessimistic and worrisome in the face of difficulties and challenges. On the contrary, we should be calm and wise, well apply the results and learnt lessons, and overcome the remaining limitations and weaknesses, especially since the beginning of the Party’s 13th term, to continue promoting innovation, making more efforts, taking advantage of every opportunity and advantage; overcoming all difficulties and challenges, to successfully implement programmes, plans, goals and tasks set for the 13th term and to 2030.
Especially, it is necessary to continue to thoroughly grasp and creatively apply the lessons drawn by the 13th National Party Congress. They are, (1) The work of building and rectifying the Party and the political system must be implemented drastically, comprehensively, concertedly, regularly, and effectively in all terms of politics, ideology, ethics, and organisation and personnel. Staying consistent in, creatively applying and developing Marxism-Leninism and President Ho Chi Minh’s thought; improving the Party's leadership and governance capacity and combat strength; regularly fortifying and strengthening solidarity within the Party and the political system; strictly implementing Party building principles and regularly innovating the Party's leadership methods. Building a clean and comprehensively strong State and political system; perfecting the mechanism of strict control of power: Resolutely and persistently preventing and combating degradation, "self-evolution", and "self-transformation" internally; intensifying the fight against corruption and other negative phenomena. Personnel work must truly be “the core of core”, with focus on building a contingent of officials at all levels, especially strategic-level officials and leaders with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige on par with their missions; promoting the responsibility of setting examples of officials and Party members in accordance with the motto that the higher position he/she holds, the more exemplary he/she must be, especially members of the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Party Central Committee. (2) In all activities of the Party and State, we must always uphold the viewpoint that "the people are the root"; truly believe in, respect and promote the people's right to mastery; and persistently implement the motto "the people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people check, the people supervise, and the people benefit". The people are the centre and the subject of the cause of Doi Moi, national building and defence; all guidelines and policies must truly base on the life, aspirations, legitimate rights and interests of the people, and take their happiness and prosperity as the goal to strive for. Tightening the close relationship between the Party and the people, relying on the people to build the Party; and consolidating and enhancing the people's trust in the Party, the State, and the socialist regime. (3) In leadership, direction, administration, and implementation, it is necessary to have high determination, great efforts, and drastic, dynamic and creative actions; take appropriate steps, and promote all resources, drivers and superiority of the socialist regime; promptly remove bottlenecks and problems; uphold the responsibility of top leaders associated with promoting the combined strength of the entire political system; promote democracy associated with maintaining discipline; attach importance to reality review and theoretical research; well implement coordination in leadership, management and administration; attach importance to quality and practical efficiency; and create breakthroughs for development. (4) Prioritising the building of concerted development institutions, ensuring harmony between steadfastness and innovation; inheritance and development; economic innovation and political, cultural, and social innovation; adherence to market rules and ensuring of the socialist orientation; economic growth and cultural and human development, settlement of social issues, and protection of natural resources and the environment; socio-economic development and national defence and security; independence and self-reliance, and international integration; Party leadership, State management and the people's right to mastery; exercising democracy and strengthening the rule of law and social discipline. Truly attaching importance to and effectively promote the driving role of people, culture, education and training, science and technology in national development. (5) Proactively studying, grasping, making accurate forecast of situations, absolutely avoiding subjective thinking which could result in being caught off guard. Resolutely and persistently protecting national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity in tandem with maintaining an environment of peace, stability, security and safety to develop the country. Actively and proactively promoting comprehensive and intensive international integration on the basis of firmly maintaining national independence and self-reliance. Soundly and effectively handling the relations with major powers and neighbouring countries in the spirit of being a friend and a reliable and responsible partner of all countries in the international community; making accurate evaluations on global trends and grasping opportunities. Effectively promoting the synergy of the nation’s strength and the era’s. Exploiting, effectively using all resources to meet the requirement of the national construction, development and defence in the new situation. Those lessons provide an important foundation for our Party to continue applying and developing them creatively in leadership and direction, helping us stay consistent, strong and confident to overcome new challenges and complete greater tasks as the country enters a new phase of development.
In the meantime, it is necessary to thoroughly grasp and bring into full play several lessons on renewing leadership methods and working styles, which were drawn by the mid-term meeting of the 13th Party Central Committee:
First, thoroughly understanding and strictly complying with the Party Platform, Charter and Working regulations as well as the Party’s policy and guidelines and the State’s laws and policies. Well implementing the Party’s principles on organisation and operation, especially the principles on democratic centralism, solidarity, persistently adhering to principles amidst daunting issues and new challenges. When dealing with major, complicated, urgent, sensitive and unprecedented issues that are subject to differences, democratic and candid discussions should be held to consider them in a thorough manner so as to make timely and accurate decisions that are in line with the situation.
Second, strictly following the working agenda of the entire term of the Party Central Committee, Politburo and Secretariat to build and carry out at any cost annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly working programmes in line with schedule; at the same time timely and flexibly making adjustments and supplementations to the working programmes when important, complicated and new issues emerge, so as to timely and effectively exercise leadership and give direction to all aspects in social life. New things during the 13th tenure should continue to be implemented, i. e: The Politburo and the Secretariat directed the organisation of many national conferences of key officials (in both offline and online formats) to quickly impart and instruct the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress and resolutions of the Party Central Committee and the Politburo in all sectors, areas, localities, across both length and breadth; reaching consensus from the central to local levels, and among localities in the same regions. Key leaders hold meetings monthly or when necessary to get a comprehensive and detailed grasp on the situation; discuss and reach unanimity on the viewpoints, policies and directions on big, important and urgent issues of the Party and country; push the pace and timely remove bottlenecks to accelerate the progress and enhance the efficiency of set tasks. After each meeting, conclusion was always issued to give directions and assign the person to be responsible for each matter, which greatly helped with consistent, unanimous, timely, close and smooth leadership and administration, particularly in the context of carrying out Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control at the same time with settling complicated situations like in the past time; tackled overlapping in leadership, instruction and management; created solidarity, unified the will and actions of key leaders; and generated spillover effect to the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Party Central Committee and the whole political system.
Third, prioritising the issuance of uniform and high-quality legal documents, working regulations, procedures and processes in order to strictly and consistently implement them throughout the Party and the whole political system; renewing, improving the quality of the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th Party Central Committee; making close and smooth coordination, and engaging the whole political system with high resolve and great efforts, solidarity and unanimity of the entire Party, people and armed forces in the spirit of “superior-subordinate unanimity”, “one voice speaks, a hundred respond”, “one mind from top to bottom”, and “thorough understanding across both length and breadth”.
Fourth, the Politburo and the Secretariat as a whole, as well as each member of the Politburo and Secretariat must strictly comply with the working regulations and regime; and work following the working regulations and the working agenda of the whole tenure and the year. The contents and programmes of meetings must be prepared meticulously; the schedule of meetings must be arranged scientifically and methodologically; one meeting should handle various issues; collective intelligence must be maximised while personal responsibility must be highlighted, discussion should be conducted in a democratic, prudent and thorough fashion; the meetings’ conclusions must be put into documents quickly and timely.
The assignment and decentralisation in handling tasks between the Politburo and the Secretariat, and between the Politburo and Secretariat as a whole and the individual members who are in charge of each field, as well as the relations between the Politburo and the Secretariat on one side and Party delegations, Party civil affairs committees and Party committees under the direct control of the Party Central Committee should also be clear and specific. The Politburo and the Secretariat handle tasks within their authority, timely and fully report to the Party Central Committee on important issues before making decisions, and the tasks that the Politburo solve between the two plenums of the Party Central Committee.
Fifth, each member of the Politburo and the Secretariat should set good examples, regular cultivate, self-train and improve themselves’ revolutionary ethics; seriously conduct self-reflection, self-correction, self-criticism and criticism; adhere to discipline and order, shoulder political responsibility for the field he/she is in charge of; resolutely combat individualism and other negative phenomena; preserve internal solidarity; keep firm ideology and political viewpoint; setting example in ethics, working style and lifestyle of themselves and their families, absolutely avoiding “trying to shed light on others’ dirty feet without noticing the mud on one’s own feet”.
Building upon this foundation, the priority will be placed on the effective implementation of these following key tasks:
First, regarding economic development: It is necessary to continue boosting the understanding of and rigorously carrying out the Party's orientations, legal provisions, and State policies on rapid and sustainable development. Emphasis should be placed on strengthening and enhancing the macroeconomic foundation, controlling inflation, improving the internal capacity and autonomy of the economy on the basis of fostering a healthy economy and maintaining the stable and safe development of credit institutions as well as the monetary, real estate, stock, and corporate bond markets. Priority should be given to improving the investment and business environment; effectively addressing the current and long-term difficulties, constraints, and weaknesses of the economy to sustain the momentum of recovery and achieve more rapid and sustainable growth; creating stronger shifts in implementing strategic breakthroughs, restructuring the economy in conjunction with innovating the growth model and improving productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of the economy. Another point is to accelerate the national digital transformation, developing a digital economy, a digital society, a green economy, and a circular economy, etc., in connection with strengthening resources management and environmental protection.
Second, regarding cultural and social development: There is an increasing need to focus on the task of fostering cultural and social development in tandem with economic growth; ensure social welfare and security; and continuously improve the material and spiritual lives of the people. It is essential to effectively implement policies to support citizens, unemployed workers, and struggling businesses. Attention should be paid to caring for revolutionary contributors and those with disadvantaged backgrounds; building new-style rural areas and civilised urban spaces in association with preserving and promoting the cultural value and essence of both settings, creating employment, and pressing ahead with sustainable poverty reduction; and prioritising the allocation of resources for programmes, projects, and policies targeting ethnic minorities and the mountainous, remote, border, and island areas. Additionally, efforts must be strengthened in disease prevention and control; enhancing healthcare quality for the people; and ensuring food safety. It is necessary to optimise the effectiveness of cultural institutions, especially in industrial zones and new urban areas, and to preserve and promote valuable cultural heritage. The building of a healthy lifestyle, preventing moral decay, and paying more attention to prevent and combat domestic violence, child abuse, and social vices are also crucial.
Third, regarding national defence, security, and foreign affairs: There is a need to further strengthening national defence and security capabilities; maintaining political stability, order, and social safety; improving the effectiveness of the work on foreign affairs and international integration. Proactively preventing and decisively combating the subversive schemes of hostile and reactionary forces is crucial, ensuring the state of not to be caught off guard in any situation. Cohesive measures must be implemented to guarantee political security, order, and social safety, in addition to the combating of crimes and social vices and the implementation of measures to ensure cybersecurity, traffic safety, and the prevention and control of fire and explosion.
The foreign diplomatic activities must be well done, particularly at the high level. There must be a proactive and vigorous approach to deepening substantive relationships with partners, while promoting multilateral diplomacy; maintaining a foreign policy of independence, autonomy, peace, cooperation, and development; maintaining the multilateralism and diversification of international relations; and actively engaging in extensive international integration, with the top priority placed on the interests of the nation and the people. Signed trade agreements must be effectively carried out, capitalising on the maximum benefits these pacts can bring about.
Fourth, regarding Party and political system building: It is necessary to further enhance and better the building and rectification of the Party and the political system, making them truly pure and strong, especially the system of legislative, executive, and judicial agencies from the central to local levels; and constructing a really pure, upright, strong, and effective government and local administrations. Specifically, there must be programmes and plans to seriously, drastically, and effectively implement resolutions and conclusions of the Party Central Committee on this matter, especially the resolution adopted at the fourth plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee and the conclusion made at the fourth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee on stepping up the Party and political system building and rectification; resolutely preventing, pushing back, and strictly handling officials and Party members who show degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, and the phenomena of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation", along with studying and following President Ho Chi Minh ideology and his morality and style.
Improving the personnel work to select and appoint individuals who truly possess virtue, talent, integrity, and dedication, and those genuinely committed to the nation and the people to leadership positions within the State apparatus. Resolutely fighting and eliminating those who have a hand in corruption and misconducts; combating any sign of lobbying for positions and power, sectionalism and favouritism in recruiting relatives who are ineligible. Promoting democracy; and raising the sense of responsibility and setting examples, and the spirit of serving the people among officials and civil servants. Establishing mechanisms and policies that encourage and protect dynamic, creative, and accountable individuals who dare to think and to act. Tightening disciplines; regularly inspecting, urging, and creating significant changes in the performance of duties; enhancing ethics, culture, and professionalism of officials and civil servants. Persistently and resolutely fighting corruption and other negative phenomena while simultaneously promoting the building and perfection of laws, mechanisms, and policies to make corruption "impossible, unthinkable, and undesired". And
Fifth, for the preparation of all-level Party congresses, towards the 14th National Party Congress, sub-committees in charge of the preparation must quickly and seriously act and coordinate with central committees, ministries, and agencies, as well as all-level Party committees and local authorities to review theoretical and practical issues over the 40 years of reform, with a focus on the last decade; prepare quality draft documents for all-level Party congresses, give feedback to draft documents for the 14th National Party Congress; and improve the all-level personnel planning and work, especially the personnel for the 14th Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat for 2026-2031; and well prepare for and organise all-level Party congresses for 2025-2030, towards the 14th National Party Congress.
With his pride and confidence in the glorious Party over the 30 years since its establishment, our renowned revolutionary poet To Huu penned an immortal work titled "30 nam doi ta co Dang" (30 Years of Our Life with the Party), in which he wrote:
"Our Party there, with hundreds of hands and thousands of eyes
Our Party here, forged of iron, and bronze
Our Party, embracing myriad workers and farmers
Our Party, united in a single heart of unwavering faith."
The people’s pride and confidence in the Party have been nurtured and improved gradually, and growing throughout the glorious revolutionary course of the Party since 1930, with achievements which the entire of our Party, people, and army, under the sound leadership of the Party, have tirelessly strived for in the revolutionary struggle to gain power; resistance wars and national construction; socialism building in the North; the struggle for the liberation of the South, national reunification; overcoming war consequences, safeguarding the territorial integrity of the Motherland, and gradually progressing to socialism; and in the cause of reform and national construction, making the country more prosperous and beautiful; expanding foreign relations, actively and proactively engaging in comprehensive, intensive, and extensive international integration; and helping our country have such a fortune, potential, and international position as it is today.
Continuing marching on the glorious path under the Party flag, and building and defending our very beloved socialist Vietnam, making it more prosperous and beautiful, our Party, our country, and our nation will continue to turn to 2030 that marks the centenary of the Party, with the goal of transforming our country into one with a modern industry and upper middle income, and to 2045 that marks the centenary of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: striving to turn our country into a developed, high-income country, building our Vietnam “more prosperous, powerful, civilised, and happy", firmly progressing to socialism.
Proud of the glorious Party, great Uncle Ho, and the heroic Vietnamese people; and confident in the sound leadership of the genuine revolutionary Party and the strength of the great solidarity of the civilised and heroic Vietnamese nation, the entire of our Party, people, and army are determined to build a Vietnam more prosperous, powerful, civilised, and heroic in the direction to socialism.
