At the World Economic Forum (WEF) on June 25, 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, one of the major guests of the forum, delivered a speech at the opening session.

After relating the story of Vietnam in doi moi (renovation) which gained great achievements and recognized by the world in terms of cooperation and development, the PM mentioned the lesson from Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh, the hero of national liberalization and a world cultural celebrity, calling for ‘Unity, unity, great unity -  Success, success, great success’.

This Vietnamese key lesson resonated in the right place and at the right time at the 2024 WEF in Dalian, China, at a time when many countries are choosing confrontation instead of cooperation; the fire and sword are seen in Europe and the Middle East instead of peace; and Northeast Asia continues heating up day by day instead of starting negotiations. 

With solidarity and great unity in the 20th century, Vietnam successfully expelled all foreign invaders. After that, it successfully eliminated ignorance and hunger, which were considered ‘enemies’. All these things were done on the power of people’s solidarity. There is a Vietnamese saying “people can push the boat, and they also can overturn the boat’.

It was the great solidarity which helped Vietnam overcome difficulties which seemed to be insurmountable. All the links of the Vietnamese political system joined forces to solve problems. 

After the first phase of doi moi (1986-2000), with the victory of having the US embargo lifted in 1995, Vietnam made a major shift in solidarity and great unity at the international level.

Vietnam has sent a message to the world that it wants to become a reliable friend of all countries and nations in the world, and it persistently pursues the ‘four-no’ policy in relationship with other countries (including the two most important ‘nos’ -  no cooperation with other countries to set up alliances to fight against other countries; and ‘no’ to foreign countries setting up military bases on its territory); closing the past of hostility with countries invading Vietnam in the past; and opening two-way trade and promoting two-way investment between Vietnam and other countries for mutual benefits and based on the win-win principle.

And Vietnam has done what it said. Vietnam has become a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization (WTO), and other institutions. It can also implement other multilateral links that many other countries still cannot do.

Notably, Vietnam has established strategic partnerships with the five major powers that are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, especially comprehensive strategic partnerships with the US, Russia and China.

This is because Vietnam has inspired oppressed and exploited countries across five continents to national liberalization with its revolutionary achievements from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

The theory about communism emerged in Europe and was successfully applied for the first time in Russia with the establishment of the Soviet Union, which had been considered the stronghold of the world’s revolution since 1917. However, after 70 years of existence and development, the stronghold collapsed in 1991 because of a loss of solidarity, embargo and confrontation. Marxism-Leninism was overthrown and the achievements of Communism wiped out in the late 20th century.

In such conditions, Vietnam arises as a bright star which continues to move ahead on its development path with ‘know-how’ – “Unity, unity, great unity – success, success, great success’.

Socialism in Vietnam

The socialism in Vietnam is a convincing model in the world in modern times. The country has successfully expanded its economic scale with the nominal GDP increasing by 60 times over the last 40 years of implementing doi moi. 

Particularly, IMF (International Monetary Fund) noted that Vietnam is the country with GDP PPP (purchasing power parity) three times higher than nominal GDP, the highest coefficient globally (the two GDP figures are the same in the US).

There is almost no other country in the world which has two-way trade turnover double its GDP like Vietnam. The history of the world once witnessed the miraculous growth of some nations, but this happened only for 30-40 years before sliding into recession.

In the case of Vietnam, the development at lightening speed over the last 40 years is just development in the first period, and greater achievements are expected to be gained in the next periods of development.

Dinh Duc Sinh