The guests - Dr. Nguyen Van Dang from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Prof. Le Anh Vinh from the Vietnam Academy of Educational Science – share their views on national development aspirations in a new period, which are highlighted in the documents submitted to the 13th Congress of Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang: I hope that after the 13th Party Congress Party building work will be strengthened. Photo: Pham Hai

At the opening session of 13th National Party Congress (January 26), Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong presented the report of the 12th Party Central Committee on documents submitted to the Congress. The report emphasized lessons learned from Doi Moi (reform). The first lesson is that the Party building and reorganization must be carried out drastically, comprehensively, synchronously, regularly and effectively in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organization and personnel.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang, what do you think about the Party building and reorganization during the 5-year term fo the 12th Party Congress term and what do you expect in the work of building and reorganizing the Party in the new term?

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang: Party building and reorganization is a regular and consistent activity that has been carried out by the Party in recent terms, especially since Doi Moi.

Why? Because in the past, one of the factors that brought power to the Party in the revolutionary leadership process was organizational discipline. As we carried out Doi Moi, the country's context changed, and new challenges also arose. One of the challenges is to maintain organizational discipline as well as Party building work. Because that is the maintenance and continuation of strength for the ruling Party. During the 12th term, the Party discipline work was implemented very well, very strictly, reflected through objective data: Over 100 high-ranking officials were disciplined. Obviously, this has helped improve the people's trust in the Party.

I hope that after the 13th National Congress, the Party building work will continue to be enhanced and implemented consistently. As I have said, Party building work is a regular and continuous work, and the factor ensures the strength of organizational discipline and thereby improves leadership capacity of the Party. Therefore, it will be a regular task. When the context changes, the Party building task must also be associated with the change.

The document submitted to the 13th Party Congress emphasized the orientation and vision in the new period: the aspiration to bring the country to prosperity and happiness. What do you think about the country's development orientation in the coming time, Prof. Vinh?

Prof. Le Anh Vinh: I have two ideas. Firstly, for the aspirations for our country to prosper, according to the goal set in the documents of the Party Congress: By 2025, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern technology and surpass the average income level; by 2030, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry, and high middle income; and by 2045, the country’s 100th anniversary, Vietnam will be a developed country with high income.

PwC's "World in 2050" report stated that Vietnam has the potential to be in the top 20 economies in the world by 2050.

Therefore, I think this goal has been well-grounded and carefully considered based on the resources of Vietnamese people as well as the very stable development of Vietnam in the past period.

In fact, many countries in the period of rapid economic development experienced trade-offs in terms of social development. So we strive for the aspiration for a prosperious country alongside happiness.

This is a universal goal of any development. Because the goal for the development of the country is also for every human being to have a happy life, each family a happy life, from which we will have a happy society, a happy people.

Prof. Le Anh Vinh. Photo: Pham Hai

Dr. Dang, what is your view about this issue?

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang: Before the 13th Congress, public opinion was quite excited about the vision set out in the draft documents: by 2045, Vietnam will become a developed country with a socialist orientation.

Becoming a socialist-oriented developed country creates a difference. Because becoming a developed country is not only based on criteria on material, economics, national income or per capita income. The concept of development is also associated with environmental protection and especially social development.

We see a new point in the draft documents of the 13th Congress: there is a section (8) on social development management - something that the documents of the previous Party Congresses did not have. So why did the Party outline the content on social development management for the present and the future?

We aim for a developed society that is not only rich and economically prosperous, not only protecting the environment, but also a society that balances and harmonizes interests among classes and social groups. A harmonious society towards unity, cooperation, and balance.

In the report on documents submitted to the 13th Party Congress, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized on taking the people as the root, respecting the people, trusting the people, letting the people know, discuss, do, inspect, supervise and especially the people benefit. This is the first time the phrase "the people benefit" has been specifically included in the draft documents. What is your comment about this, Dr. Dang?

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang: In recent years, we have been familiar with the Party's saying, slogans and policies, which are "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect". But this Congress we see the addition of two new phrases "people supervise" and "people benefit".

The phrase "people benefit", in my opinion, represents a very practical viewpoint of the Party. Firstly, it emphasizes that the people benefit from the fruits of development. “People benefit” is not only people benefit from something, but also aims to satisfy diverse interests in society to turn benefits into a driving force for development.

Secondly, the phrase "people benefit" emphasizes that all policies must create real life changes, that is change by creating a positive change in the life of people, the benefits enjoyed by people.

Thirdly, when mentioning the concept "people benefit", meaning people in general, all classes, not just social groups or classes with favorable conditions.

I think this is a new point and obviously it is also the completion of the Party's guidelines in the process of developing and leading the country.

Prof. Le Anh Vinh: I think, for the phrase "people benefit", it is a people-centered perspective, which means that all socio-economic development will serve the needs of people. It is also linked to the aspirations they have set out, that is, to develop a prosperous country in order to make the lives of the people happy and full.

I very much hope that the phrase "people benefit" will bring about specific and practical meaning to each person.

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