Prof. Hoang Chi Bao

The renovation policy initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam has gone through a 30-year journey. In these 30 years, we have gained great achievements.

In theory, there are two landmark breakthroughs related to strategic thinking.

Firstly, to liberate the obsolete production forces created by the old mechanisms and policies, which have become an obstacle to development.

For example, the pay-on-job mechanism in agriculture. This has freed a number of obstacles, putting farmers in the role of the subject and thereby creating strong vitality for production and business in rural areas.

But why did farmers wholeheartedly support this resolution at that time? Because it touched their interests. They found that their interests were satisfied thanks to the right policies of the party.

This fact proves that all the theories, all the policies of the party and state, if being appropriate to the practice and meeting the requirements of the people, it self generates power as motivation. It is the fundamental factor for us to consider building a complete renovation theory of Vietnam, ie a theory on socialism building.

Secondly, previously we only did business with the Soviet system. Theorists call it the linear development type, which can turn Vietnam into an oasis, which is close.

Then, we have become familiar with the new concepts: the development of every nation is always in the common development trend of the world. There should be bilateral and multilateral cooperation to seek external forces to support the development of internal resources. This is consistent with the trend of globalization in the context of integration that the Party aims at.

Undeniably, the Doi Moi (renovation) policy, under the leadership of our Party in the past 30 years has brought Vietnam to the world. But we can go further if ...

After the first 10 years of innovation, we escaped from a serious crisis. The Party's success is to solve the socio-economic crisis, prevent it from spreading into political crisis as in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Only when we can maintain stability we can move on to new development. It was a success thanks to the guidance of the new theoretical thinking.

Ten years later we walked out of underdeveloped status to become a lower middle developed country in the world. We always have to face pressure from the world, because they're at a very high level of development. How to achieve that common ground to keep pace with the general trend of the world is a big challenge ahead.

Innovative thinking first and foremost

The journey to prosperity is always bumpy, asking us to make an effort, to continue renovation. First of all it is still innovation thinking. Our Party has determined from the beginning that innovative thinking is a prerequisite for innovation of action. Only when we change the thoughtcan we then change our action.

Fairly, we still face a pressing demand of strongly innovating thinking, as the Party pointed out in the country's economic - social strategy.

Firstly, synchronization between economic reform and political reform. And we do not simply think that politics is only simply the political system, because the political system is the system of institutions, specifically the party, State, the Fatherland Front and mass organizations.

Politics is much broader than political system, because it goes into the realm of institutions, policies and the allocation of resources and in particular it determines the competence, responsibilities and functions between the subjects, the machines constituting the political system.

Secondly, the Party acknowledges that our forecasting capacity is weak and low, so sometimes we are passive before the changes of situation. As you know, these changes took place very quickly. In the coming time, if we cannot improve our forecasting capabilities, to design the scenarios and foresee the future, then we can hardly take the initiative. This requires capacity and vision of leaders.

This relates to the quality of staff, particularly the ones at the most strategic level. National leaders must crystallize the essence, the wisdom of the nation into the era.

They must have a vision, lead by action, and promote the social community. To meet the actual requirements, it is clear that our personnel work also needs to be innovative.

Thirdly, we have to pay attention to the issue of democracy. Although democracy is a remarkable achievement in the process of innovation, compared to the requirements of development, we still need to further perfect it from the institutions of the state of law, from the legal system and even sanctions.

There must be democracy in essence, to pass formal democracy, to overcome democratic violations, then we will be able to combat corruption, which has existed for too long in Vietnam.

Viet Chung