Hanoi (VNA) – The scientific and revolutionary values of Karl Marx’sideological heritage and the significance of Marxism to the world and Vietnamrevolution were reiterated at an international scientific workshop held inHanoi on May 4, on the occasion of Marx’s 200th birth anniversary (May 5).

Nguyen Xuan Thang, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam CentralCommittee, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council and Director of the HoChi Minh National Political Academy, stressed that the life and ideologicalheritage of Karl Marx have gone down in history, putting him among the greatestmen of human kind.

According to Thang, among Marx’s huge theoretical heritage, the first tobe mentioned is the dialectic materialism and historical materialism, which gavethe progressive humankind, especially the working class, a great tool to gainawareness about and transform the world. This meant Marx had carried out arevolution in the entire perception of the world history, as for the first timein history, development rules of human society were discovered, integrated andpresented in a systematic manner. Thanks to this, humankind for the first timehad a fairly complete theory on development.

Thang said utilising dialectic materialism and historical materialism inresearching the capitalist mode of production, Karl Marx outlined economicrules of the capitalist society and examined capitalism from its birth throughits development to its annihilation. Another great discovery of Marx is therule of surplus value, which is considered the “cornerstone “ of Marxism as awhole.  

With those two great scientific discoveries, Marx laid a firm foundationfor the realization of the ideology on scientific socialism – the theory onliberating the working class and humankind as a whole from all forms ofslavery, oppression, exploitation and depravity.

Applying Marxism’s principles to the specific situation in Russia, V. I.Lenin further developed Marxism into Marxism-Leninism and brought about the successof the October Revolution in 1917.  

In Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh also employed and developedMarxism-Leninism in a creative manner to suit Vietnam’s situation. Marxism-Leninismand Ho Chi Minh Thought have become the ideological foundation of the CommunistParty of Vietnam and served as the lodestar for Vietnam’s revolution.

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has led the Vietnamese people andnation in successfully conducting a revolution, persistently pursuing the goalsof national independence and socialism. From an underdeveloped country, Vietnamhas now entered a period of industrialization, modernization and internationalintegration. The country’s position and role in the regional and global arenahas been rising.

 “The historic accomplishments ofthe more than 30 years of renewal again testify to the sustained vitality ofMarxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the correctness of the CPV’sguideline on building socialism,” Thang said.

He affirmed that Marxism and Marxism-Leninism has and will be the torchfor Vietnam revolution in the new era.

In his paper presented at the workshop, Professor-Doctor BunthuaKhuamisay from the Lao National Political and Administrative Academy saidMarxism is the most complete and solid theory, which proves that the cause ofhumankind liberation is the cause of the working class, and the liberation ofthe working class is the core of humankind liberation.

He stressed that ever since its foundation, the Lao People’sRevolutionary Party has made Marxism-Leninism its ideological and theoreticalfoundation, and the lodestar for Laos’ Revolution. Therefore, the research ofand application of Marxism-Leninism is of utmost importance to the country.

The workshop’s organising board received nearly 100 research papers,including 26 from international scholars. The papers affirmed the scientificand revolutionary values of Marxism, laying stress on the creative applicationand development of Marxism in current socialist countries. They said importantachievements, both theoretical and practical, in socialist countries haveproved the correctness and vitality of Marxism in the present era.-VNA