The ongoing 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam received congratulatory messages from 167 foreign parties and organisations worldwide by the end of January 20.

The participants at the opening session of the 12th National Party Congress.

The congratulations included messages sent by the five ruling communist parties and ruling parties in the neighbouring countries and others that Vietnam has traditional friendship with, namely the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, the Communist Party of China, the Cambodian People’s Party, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the Workers’ Party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Congress was also congratulated by 27 political parties in Asia and Oceania, 43 others in Europe, 21 in the Middle East and Africa, 27 in America, four international organisations, 28 friendship associations, and 12 embassies in Vietnam.

In their messages, the political parties and international organisations and friends voiced their belief in the Congress’s success. They said they believe that the Communist Party of Vietnam will continue leading the Vietnamese people to successfully realise reforms and build and firmly protect the socialist Vietnam.

The Congress’ Secretariat will continue updating congratulations sent to the Congress in the next days.

International media highlight Party Congress’s significance

A number of foreign news agencies and newspapers on January 21 ran articles on the opening ceremony of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, highlighting the great significance of the event.

In its article, China’s Xinhua News Agency said that more than 1,500 official delegates representing over 4.5 million Party members are attending the Congress.

The article also emphasised the Congress’s main theme of “Promoting the building of a pure and strong Party, while putting into play the strength of the entire nation and socialist democracy, stepping up reform comprehensively and synchronously, firmly safeguarding the Fatherland and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, and striving to turn Vietnam into a modernity-oriented industrialised country”.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the 12th Congress will discuss and approve a socio-economic development plan for the next 5 years, with a target of maintaining impressive economic growth of nearly 7 percent a year – one of the highest rates in Asia.

With various trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, foreign experts and investors are calling on Vietnam to step up reform measures, including restructuring the banking sector and boosting equitisation of State-owned enterprises, according to the press agency.

US-based Associated Press (AP) also posted an article on Vietnam’s Party Congress, sharing that the congress will select the country's new set of leaders, including the Party General Secretary, the President, the Prime Minister and the National Assembly Chairperson.

The new leaders will hold a key role in deciding the speed of economic reforms, which “have brought a flood of foreign investment, created a fledgling stock market and helped triple per capita GDP to 2,100 USD over the past 10 years,” reported the AP.

Meanwhile, in its January 21 issue, the Vedomosti newspaper of Russia ran an article spotlighting the Congress’s significance, which will decide the development of Vietnam in the future.

Vedomosti reporters, who are in Hanoi, quoted the Congress’s documents as saying that this Congress focuses on main targets of “promoting the building of a pure and strong Party, and putting into play the strength of the entire nation and socialist democracy”.

The article wrote that during more than one week of working, delegates will review and assess the 30-year implementation of the Doi Moi (Renewal) policy, while examining the implementation of the 11 th Congress’s resolution, and outlining directions, tasks and national development targets for 2016-2020.

According the article, despite macro-economic difficulties, Vietnam, under the leadership of the Communist Party, maintained relatively high economic growth with gross domestic product seeing growth in the past five years.

VNA