General Pham Van Tra: Strong economy is the foundation for building a strong national defense.

At the conference on the 80th anniversary of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army today, General Pham Van Tra, former Minister of National Defense, shared his thoughts on combining economy with national defense in the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland.

General Pham Van Tra affirmed that combining economy with national defense is a tradition formed and nurtured throughout thousands of years of our nation's history.

A country with a developed economy and strong economic potential will be the premise and foundation for building a strong national defense. Conversely, a strong national defense will create conditions and a political environment for economic development and economic protection.

General Pham Van Tra speaks at the conference.

He recalled Uncle Ho's words at the Vietnam Army Officer School on April 5, 1958. Here, Uncle clearly stated: "The Party and the Government assigned our army two tasks: To build an increasingly powerful and combat-ready People's Army and to practically participate in production labor to contribute to the construction of socialism.

"Those are two very glorious tasks. You need to strive to study and work to build the Army, and at the same time, you must strive to participate in production and save, and support units that switch to production. I believe that you, together with the entire army, will carry out those two tasks well," General Pham Van Tra quoted Uncle Ho's advice.

Through the positions of Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the General Staff and Minister of National Defense (1993 - 2006), General Pham Van Tra directly led and directed the activities of the General Staff, paying special attention to the issue of combining economy with national defense, and the military participating in economic activities.

General Pham Van Tra was very enthusiastic about combining economy with national defense, building economic-defense zones, turning "uninhabited forest areas" on the country's border into economic-defense zones, organizing the Army and people to build agricultural and forestry farms in strategic areas, remote areas, as the foundation for national defense and security.

General Pham Van Tra and the collective leadership of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army repeatedly surveyed and researched the development of projects for economic-defense zones, then proposed to the Government a plan to organize a system of economic-defense zones throughout the country, which was approved by the Government.

In July 1998, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai issued a decision approving the socio-economic development program for extremely disadvantaged communes in mountainous and remote areas.

Immediately afterwards, the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission) issued a Resolution "On the Army's participation in production labor and economic activities, promoting its core role, participating in socio-economic construction and development, and strengthening national defense and security in strategic areas".

The construction of economic-defense zones has contributed to socio-economic development, gradually improving and enhancing the material and spiritual life of the people, thereby building a national defense and security posture. At the same time, this is a way for the Party, Government and Army to repay the gratitude of the people.

The national defense and security posture in key strategic areas is increasingly built and consolidated.

According to General Pham Van Tra, to achieve great achievements in implementing the policy of combining economy with national defense, it is impossible not to mention the role and great contributions of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army.

The Chief of the General Staff regularly cares, inspects, encourages and directs, orients awareness and ideology and removes difficulties and shortcomings.

He said that it is necessary to clearly define the organization, staffing, and policy mechanisms, creating favorable conditions for military enterprises to operate; actively and proactively coordinate effectively with central and local departments, ministries, and branches in advising on the issuance of leadership and direction documents to build a strong national defense and people's security.

In addition, the former Minister also emphasized advising and directing the planning of defense arrangements combined with economy, economy combined with defense; organizing economic units appropriately, meeting the requirements and tasks in economic development and when war situations occur...

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dai-tuong-pham-van-tra-kinh-te-manh-la-co-so-de-xay-dung-nen-quoc-phong-manh-2432119.html