Hanoi (VNA) - The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam officially opened at theNational Convention Centre in the capital city of Hanoi in the morning ofJanuary 26.

The 1,587 delegates in attendance are representing more than 5.1 million Partymembers nationwide, and the figure is 80 more delegates than at the 12th National Party Congress and the highest number ever.

The 13th National Party Congress has the theme “Strengthening thebuilding and rectification of the Party and the political system into purityand strength; rousing the will and determination for national development and promotingthe strength of the great national unity bloc in combination with the power ofthe era; continuing to comprehensively and synchronously accelerate the causeof reform; constructing and firmly safeguarding the Fatherland and maintaininga peaceful and stable environment; and striving to turn Vietnam into adeveloped, socialist-oriented nation by the middle of the 21st century.”

The Congress’s Presidium includedmembers of the 12th-tenure Politburo: Party General Secretary and PresidentNguyen Phu Trong; Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc; National Assembly ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’sSecretariat Tran Quoc Vuong; Permanent National Assembly Vice Chairwoman TongThi Phong; Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh; Secretary of the PartyCentral Committee and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s OrganisationCommission Pham Minh Chinh; Secretary of the Party Central Committee andChairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information andEducation Vo Van Thuong; Secretary of the Party Central Committee andChairwoman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass MobilisationTruong Thi Mai; Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of theParty Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh; Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh; Minister of NationalDefence Ngo Xuan Lich; Minister of Public Security To Lam; Secretary of theHanoi Municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue; Head of the delegation ofNational Assembly deputies of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thien Nhan; and permanentdeputy head of the unit in charge of documents for the 13th National Party Congress Hoang Trung Hai. Secretary of theParty Central Committee and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front CentralCommittee Tran Thanh Man is also a member of the Congress’s Presidium.

Former Party General SecretaryNong Duc Manh; former State Presidents Tran Duc Luong, Nguyen Minh Triet andTruong Tan Sang; former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; and former NA ChairmenNguyen Van An and Nguyen Sinh Hung attended the opening ceremony, along withother leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam FatherlandFront, revolutionary veterans, heroic Vietnamese mothers, intellectuals,artists, religious dignitaries and representatives of young generations.

Foreign ambassadors, Chargé d’ Affaires and chief representatives ofinternational organisations in Hanoi were also present at the opening ceremony.

With the motto “Solidarity - Democracy - Discipline - Creativeness - Development”,the 13th National Party Congress will review not only theimplementation of the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congressbut also 35 years of implementing the “Doi Moi” (Renewal) process, 30 years of implementingthe 1991 Political Platform, 10 years of implementing the amended PoliticalPlatform (supplemented and developed in 2011) and the National Socio-economicDevelopment Strategy 2011-2020; setting out socio-economic developmentorientations and tasks for 2021-2025 (the 50th anniversary of theliberation of the South and national reunification); and determining goals andorientations to 2030 (the 100th founding anniversary of the Party) anda vision for national development to 2045 (the 100th foundinganniversary of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republicof Vietnam). These are important milestones in the development process of the Party,the people, and the nation, with the significance of defining orientations andstrategic visions for national development in the new era.

The 13th National Party Congress will review Party building work andthe leadership of the 12th-tenure Party Central Committee, definingdirections and tasks of Party building in the new tenure; assess theperformance of the 12th-tenure Party Statutes; and elect the PartyCentral Committee for the 13th tenure.
At the opening ceremony, Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen PhuTrong, who is also head of the subcommittee in charge of documents, presentedthe 12th-tenure Party Central Committee’s report on documentssubmitted to the 13th National Party Congress, focusing on a numberof common and basic issues that clear up the major content and importanthighlights for the congress to consider, discuss, and give decisive opinions.

Draft documents - Crystallised by the brainpower of the entire Party, people

On preparing the draft documents for the congress, the top leader said that, overthe past two years, sub-committees have closely coordinated with research agencies,ministries, and sectors at the central level and Party committees at all levelsand local administrations to organise nearly 60 conferences, workshops, andseminars and establish 50 working delegations to make field trips and consultformer Party and State leaders and experts. Numerous seminars with the WorldBank and several other international organisations were also held, while twodelegations were arranged to gather experience from abroad.

Theoretical and scientific research agencies sent some 80 consulting and proposalreports to the sub-committees. Many veteran revolutionaries and scientists alsosent letters and comments. After being studied and receiving feedback,reasonable opinions were placed into the draft documents.

The sub-committees conducted 20 sessions to discuss and adopt the blueprint anddraft documents, while maintaining regular coordination between thesub-committee and the editing team to ensure consistency in content in the documents,including the Political Report as the core. The Politburo held many meetings togive opinions to complete the blueprint and draft documents for submission tothe Party Central Committee for feedback, at the 10th, 11th,14th and 15th meetings of the Party Central Committee.

Draft reports were amended many times and sent to seek feedback from NationalAssembly deputies, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, and otherorganisations and agencies.

The Politburo decided to publicise the full text of the draft reports in the massmedia in order to gather opinions from officials, Party members and people bothinside and outside the country. Millions of opinions were made on the draftdocuments and summarised for the Party Central Committee. The opinions weresummed up in 1,410 pages, while the general report was 200 pages.

The top leader affirmed that the preparation of the draft documents for the 13th Party National Congress went through many rounds in a meticulous, thoughtful,and methodical manner, being improved at each step with numerous importantchanges in content and method.

Outstanding imprints create new impetus, enthusiasm

Looking back on the 12th tenure and 35 years of the “Doi Moi”(Renewal) process, the Party General Secretary said that, over the last fiveyears, grasping the advantages and opportunities, and overcoming the challengesand hardships, particularly the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic andnatural disasters, the entire Party, people, and army have upheld a spirit ofpatriotism, solidarity, determination, mettle, and creativeness to workrelentlessly and gain a number of very important and comprehensive achievements.Thanks to such efforts, the country has witnessed robust and sustainable growthwith heightened trust among the people in the Party, State, and the socialist regime.

Vietnam’s economic growth has averaged 5.9 percent annually, with improvedgrowth quality, a stable macro-economy, inflation kept under control and at a lowlevel, and strengthened financial and State budget discipline.

Total investment has been spurred by enhanced effectiveness, while Vietnam’s tradebalance has improved with growing export value. The country has also beenpromoting economic restructuring and renewing the growth model, while improvingthe business climate and boosting the economy’s scale and competitiveness.

The country’s political and socialstability has been maintained, while living standards of people have beenimproved, and progress has been seen in social welfare, healthcare, educationand training, science and technology, environmental protection, culture, andhuman development during the period.

Particular attention has been paid to the building and rectification of theParty and the political system in all areas, from politics, ideology, and ethics,to personnel. Supervisory efforts and the fight against corruption and wastehave been accelerated, resulting in breakthroughs and real outcomes. Legalproceedings and trials have been launched regarding a large number of majoreconomic and corruption cases, which have been handled vigorously as a warning toothers. These moves have received broad support and appreciation from officials,Party members and people.

Against a backdrop of global and regional uncertainties, Vietnam hasconsolidated and reinforced national defence and security and been proactive inhandling all eventualities. The country’s political, economic, cultural, and socialaffairs, alongside social order and safety, have been maintained. Externalaffairs and international integration have been constantly expanded. Thecountry has also demonstrated its firm and persist determination in protectingnational independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, as wellas the country’s and the people’s interests, while maintaining a peaceful andstable environment for national development and actively and responsiblycontributing to global and regional peace, cooperation, and development. These effortshave been highly appreciated by the international community, constantly heighteningthe Party and State’s position as well as the country’s stature and strength inthe international arena.

Despite the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam stillrecorded significant achievements in 2020 that were even more special than in theprevious years, thanks to its outstanding efforts.

While the global economy experienced negative growth of nearly 4 percent,Vietnam still posted positive growth of 2.91 percent, making it one of the world’seconomies with the highest growth rates.

Vietnam has been regarded by the international community as a bright spot incompleting the dual goals of containing the pandemic and recovering theeconomy.

The Party chief stressed that results gained during the past five years are ofspecial significance as they have not only created milestones but alsocontributed to consolidating confidence and giving new momentum, enthusiasm to theentire Party, people, and army to firmly overcome all difficulties andchallenges and optimise the opportunities and advantages to bring the countryto a new stage of development.
 
Valuable lessons of experience

The top leader pointed out certain lessons of experience learned from the renewalprocess, especially during the five-year implementation of the Resolutionadopted at the 12th National Party Congress.

Party building and rectification must be implemented drastically,comprehensively, synchronously, regularly, and effectively in terms ofpolitics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel, he said.

The Party chief stressed the need to persistently pursue and creatively developMarxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought, and to raise the leadership and combatcapacity of the Party.

It is necessary to frequently consolidate and strengthen solidarity within theParty and the entire political system, seriously follow principles in Partybuilding, and overhaul the Party’s leadership methods.

The leader also highlighted building a pure and strong State and politicalsystem, and completing a close power control mechanism.

People should be considered the “root” in all Party and State affairs, he said,underscoring the need to trust, respect, and promote people’s right to mastery,and persistently follow the motto of “people know, discuss, do, inspect,supervise and benefit.”

He also mentioned tightening the close ties between the Party and the people,consolidating and enhancing people’s trust in the Party, the State, andsocialism.

The strong determination, great effort, drastic action, dynamism, creativeness,and activeness are needed in leadership, instruction, management and implementation,he said.

The Party General Secretary also ordered the adoption of suitable steps,bringing into full play all the resources, momentum, and advantages ofsocialism, swiftly removing bottlenecks and promoting the responsibility ofleaders, while carrying forward the strength of the entire political system.

Priority should be given to synchronously building development institutions,ensuring harmony between consistency and innovation, between inheritance anddevelopment, between economic innovation and political and socio-culturalinnovation, between the abidance of market regulations and the assurance ofsocialist orientations, between economic growth and cultural and human development,between the settlement of social issues and the protection of natural resourcesand the environment, between socio-economic development and ensuring defence-security,and between independence, self-reliance and international integration. Specialattention should be paid to promoting the key role of humans, culture,education and training, and science and technology in national development.

It is also important to proactively study and accurately forecast the situationto avoid passivity and surprise; consistently safeguard independence,sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity in parallel with maintaining apeaceful environment and security stability and safety for nationaldevelopment; and actively step up international integration intensively andextensively on the basis of maintaining independence, mastery, self-reliance,and self-resiliency, the Party chief said.

He stressed that these lessons are important foundations for the Party tocontinue making use of and promoting creativeness in leadership and instructionsto help the country remain resolute and overcome new difficulties andchallenges and heavier tasks when entering the 13th tenure.

Comprehensively and synchronously stepping up the renewal process,rapid and sustainable national development

Regarding orientations and missions for the 13th term and subsequent years, theParty General Secretary emphasised that the entire Party, people, and armyshould thoroughly grasp such directions as being steadfast in applying anddeveloping Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought, towards the goal ofnational independence and socialism, in the Party’s renewal guidelines and inParty building principles; and ensuring the highest national interests based onthe basic principles of international law, and fair and win-win cooperation tobuild and safeguard the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

This is a matter of principle and is crucial for the country’s regime, and afirm foundation for the Party, which cannot be swung by anyone, he stressed.

The country’s overall developmentstrategy focuses on speeding up the “Doi Moi” (renewal) process in acomprehensive and synchronous manner, boosting rapid and sustainabledevelopment, ensuring strong cohesion and implementing all tasks, withsocio-economic expansion playing the core role, Party building being a keymatter, cultural development being the moral foundation, and the safeguardingof national defence and security being the central and ongoing task.
The awakening of people’spatriotism, national self-resiliency, and strength of great national solidarityas well as the desire for a prosperous and happy nation is an important sourceof momentum and a resource for growth, along with the promotion of the strengthof the entire political system as well as the culture and people of Vietnam,encouraging renovation and the application of science and technology, especiallythe achievements of the fourth Industrial Revolution.

Meanwhile, a decisive factor in thesuccess of national construction, development, and defence is to continue tostrengthen the building and rectification of the Party, and enhance the leadershipand ruling capacity as well as the combat strength of the Party.

The general development goal forthe 2021-2025 period and following years is improving the leadership and rulingcapacity and the combativeness of the Party; building a pure andcomprehensively strong Party and political system; reinforcing people’s trustin the Party, State and socialism; sparking the desire to develop a prosperousand happy nation with the promotion of the will and strength from the nationalgreat solidarity bloc in combination with the power of the era; comprehensivelyspeeding up the cause of renewal, industrialisation, and modernisation;constructing and firmly safeguarding the Fatherland, firmly maintaining apeaceful and stable environment; and striving to turn Vietnam into a socialist-orienteddeveloped country by the middle of the 21st century.

Highlighting the majororientations in important development issues for the country over the next 10years, the Party General Secretary underlined that the 13th tenureis an important landmark and transitional step, laying the foundation forfollowing tenures to successfully realise the goals included in the national developmentstrategy to 2030 and a vision to 2045.

Promoting the strength of the great national unity bloc

With the motto “Solidarity - Democracy- Discipline - Creativeness - Development”, the Party General Secretary askedthe congress to undertake careful discussions to reach high consensus and votefor approval of the documents, thus ensuring the success of the congress andpaving the way for the popularisation and implementation of the Resolution ofthe 13th National Party Congress, and successfully completing allset targets and tasks.

The Party leader expressed hisbelief that with a right direction in line with the rules, the cohesion of theParty policies and people’s aspirations, the promotion of the great nationalunity bloc and the strong desire to rise up as well as high politicaldetermination, the entire Party, people, and army is certain to achieve newgrowth miracles towards the goal of “wealthy people and a strong, democratic,equal and civilised country”, thus taking steady steps towards socialism and successfullyturning the wish of President Ho Chi Minh and the aspirations of the wholenation into reality.

Following the opening ceremony,Tran Quoc Vuong, member of the Politburo and permanent member of the 12th Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, delivered a report reviewing theleadership and direction of the 12th Party Central Committee.

In the afternoon, the congressworked in groups to discuss the draft documents./.