Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, head of the sub-committee for documents of the 14th National Party Congress, chaired a meeting of this sub-committee on August 27 to discuss the draft political report to be submitted to the congress. In his keynote concluding speech, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized the importanace of the 14th Congress as the beginning of a new era for Vietnam. The speech can be seen as a preliminary version of the political platform of To Lam and the Party over the next 10 years. Following is the full speech:
“Dear comrades,
In preparation for the 14th Party Congress, we have two critical tasks: drafting the Congress documents and preparing personnel for the Congress. With limited time left, the key leaders and the Politburo have agreed to prioritize these tasks until the end of the year.
At the recent 9th Central Committee meeting, the Central Committee provided input on the detailed outline of the Political Report, the 40-year Renewal Summary Report, and other reports for the 14th Party Congress. These draft reports will be presented at the 10th Central Committee meeting. After reviewing the draft Political Report and the accompanying presentation, as well as listening to Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang’s report, I agree with the work organization method of the Document Editorial Team.
In recent times, the Editorial Team has worked proactively, responsibly, and urgently. To date, we have completed the sixth draft of the Political Report. This draft closely follows the detailed outline approved by the 9th Central Committee meeting and the directives from the Standing Committee of the Document Subcommittee during its recent meeting.
Dear comrades, the 14th Party Congress will be a significant milestone in the development of our country and our nation.
The Congress has the task of reviewing the implementation of the 13th Party Congress Resolution, summarizing 40 years of the nation’s Renewal process under socialist-oriented development, and deciding on the direction, goals, and tasks for the entire Party, people, and military for the next five years (2026-2030). We will also continue implementing the 10-year socio-economic development strategy (2021-2030) and work towards our nation’s centennial under the leadership of the Party, laying the foundation to realize our vision for 2045, when we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
At these historic turning points, our cadres, party members, and the people are eagerly anticipating and expecting new, strong, and decisive breakthroughs from the Party. Therefore, this Political Report holds great significance, and it must be of high quality, truly guiding other documents, and even serving as the “beacon” for future Congresses.
Compared to the draft presented at the Standing Committee of the Document Subcommittee meeting, the quality of this draft report has significantly improved: it is more concise, the summaries of 40 years of Renewal are more succinct, incorporating the latest results from the 40-year Renewal Summary Report draft. The sections on orientation, key tasks, and strategic breakthroughs are also presented more clearly and coherently than before.
To continue refining the Political Report draft to meet both quality and progress requirements, as discussed in the meeting with the Standing Committee of the Document Subcommittee, I would like to emphasize a few more open-ended points:
First, there must be a unified understanding of the new historical starting point for the new era of the Vietnamese nation’s rise after 40 years of Renewal. From there, we must properly understand the significance and historical importance of the 14th Party Congress and the Political Report presented at the Congress.
The Political Report is the central report, and it must encapsulate the essence, values of the past, present, and future.
The report’s content must reflect the Party’s viewpoints and policies, summarize and clearly assess the results and achievements of the 13th term and 40 years of Renewal, including the reasons and lessons learned. It must especially highlight new results, new methods, and the foundations that have been established. We should explore and identify policies, tasks, and solutions that are emerging and proving effective in practice, as well as those policies that have been validated as correct and need to be continued, supplemented, and developed.
The Political Report must inspire pride and confidence among cadres, party members, and the people in the Party’s correct and wise path, in the goals and the socialist path chosen by our beloved Uncle Ho and the entire nation.
This Political Report must draw out new, outstanding points and synthesize new theoretical and practical issues of the country. It needs to thoroughly assess opportunities and challenges and the issues arising in the complex international context today. From this, we must clearly define our viewpoints, vision, goals, and development orientations, as well as the key tasks and strategic breakthroughs to create strong development momentum for the country in the new phase.
Second, we must deeply internalize the guiding thoughts of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, particularly the three basic principles in drafting the documents: persistence and innovation; inheritance and development; and the harmonious combination of theory and practice, between theoretical research, practical summaries, and policy orientation.
This persistence must be guided by the principles of adhering to and creatively applying and developing Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the Party’s theory of Renewal; persisting in the goal of national independence and socialism; and persisting in the principles of Party building to firmly protect the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Persistence must go hand in hand with innovation and creativity, but with principles, without arbitrariness, haste, or over-cautiousness, which could result in lost opportunities.
This 40-year Renewal summary has essentially completed and provided the theoretical basis for the Party’s Renewal line, which we should consider as the foundation for proposing, supplementing, and developing the theory of Renewal into the Party’s ideological foundation.
Based on these principles, we can identify some major viewpoints, orientations, key tasks, and strategic breakthroughs in the new phase. These include:
Continuing to promote the comprehensive and synchronous Renewal process, rapidly and sustainably developing the country based on the principles of economic, social development; environmental protection as the core, Party building as the key, cultural development as the foundation, ensuring national defense and security, and advancing foreign relations as the essential, regular tasks. Building and developing the country in the spirit of “self-reliance, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-resilience, and national pride.”
Maintaining independence and self-reliance; ensuring the highest national and ethnic interests based on the fundamental principles of international law; firmly protecting the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from afar; persisting in the independent and self-reliant foreign policy line, multilateralization, diversification, being a friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community.
Persisting in the principle of “People as the root,” “The people are the masters and the center of the Renewal process”; building a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, for the people, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Building and completing the synchronous development institution; renewing the economic, political, cultural, social, and environmental protection institutions; focusing on solving difficulties and obstacles in development institutions. Strengthening regional linkages, expanding development space; promoting digital transformation, green transformation, and energy transformation processes. Developing comprehensive human beings; building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity, truly as an internal strength, an important driving force for national development.
Continuing to promote building and rectifying the Party, making it truly clean and strong; resolutely and persistently fighting against corruption and negativity with the motto of “unceasing,” “relentless,” leading the fight against “internal enemies” to final victory.
Third, the Political Report of the 14th Party Congress must be the product and work of collective wisdom of the entire Party, people, and military. Therefore, we must promote democracy and collective wisdom, with the participation of central and local agencies, political-social organizations, and the people; take advantage of contributions from former leaders, intellectuals, researchers, and managers; focus on leveraging scientific research results from both domestic and international sources.
Dear comrades, the upcoming work of the Document Subcommittee and the Editorial Team is immense. The time from now until the 10th Central Committee meeting is not much, requiring great effort to continue refining the Political Report draft. I suggest that comrades continue to devote appropriate time and effort to complete this extremely important and meaningful work with the highest quality and on schedule.
Thank you very much, and I wish all comrades good health.”