'Measuring happiness' of the people: The government's new KPI

That is the mindset from growth to trust building, from material indicators to human happiness. The draft clearly states “prosperity, civilization, happiness” right in the open topic, affirming that the measure of management is people’s satisfaction.

From material indicators to happiness institutions

This is the first time in the history of the Congress that the word “happiness” has been placed at the center of the national development philosophy. “Happiness” is established as a standard value of modern public administration at the national level – where the country’s progress is measured not only by growth, but by the people’s sense of security, fairness and trust.

Smiles of women in the highlands of Nghe An province. Photo: Le Anh Dung

This thinking reflects a new development in the Party's vision of people and development institutions: development is not only to create wealth, but to make each citizen feel protected, respected and have opportunities shared. "Happiness" is therefore no longer an emotional concept, but a political -moral category, directly linked to the state's responsibility in creating a peaceful, humane and sustainable living environment.

If “prosperity” represents material strength, “civilization” represents intellectual and cultural level, then “happiness” is the foundation of human values – faith – morality, which helps the other two pillars have deeper and more sustainable meaning. Putting “happiness” at the center of the theme of the 14th Congress is therefore not only a subtlety in expression, but also a decisive affirmation that: development for people is the essence of all progressive institutions.

From happiness economics to the institution of trust

As economics moves beyond numbers, it realizes that happiness – not just income – is the ultimate measure of development.

In the 1970s, Richard Easterlin discovered the “happiness paradox”: when incomes rise, people do not necessarily become happier if society is unequal and trust in the community declines. In the same period, Amartya Sen – who later won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 – initiated the “capability approach”, arguing that a happy society is not where people are the richest, but where they have the ability and opportunity to do what they consider meaningful.

Portrait of a child in the highlands of Tuyen Quang province. Photo: Le Anh Dung

At the beginning of the 21st century, Daniel Kahneman – Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 – continued to prove that “happiness” has two different levels: experiential happiness is the feeling of living in the present, and evaluative happiness is the satisfaction when looking back on one’s own life. He pointed out that income can improve the level of satisfaction, but does not guarantee that people feel peaceful or less anxious in their daily lives.

Happiness, then, is not the result of growth, but the product of freedom and dignity, guaranteed by humane and just institutions. These ideas converge on one point: good institutions are not just those that operate effectively, but those that inspire trust. Trust – when reinforced by the rule of law, transparency and fairness – becomes the “social capital” that fosters creativity, innovation and sustainable consensus.

Economist Joel Mokyr – winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics – asserts that innovation can only be sustainable in a society that is “open to new ideas and allows for change”. He calls it a “culture of hope and experimentation”, where people dare to innovate because they believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Happiness, in this sense, is not only the destination of development, but also the spiritual energy of institutions.

When happiness is quantified, monitored, and politically accountable

Based on that theoretical foundation, Vietnam in recent years has begun to strongly change its approach to the concept of “development for human happiness”. Some pioneering localities have experimented with measuring and integrating the happiness index into socio-economic development planning and plans, demonstrating a new vision in public administration.

The beauty of Cao Bang mountains and rivers makes people's hearts filled with happiness.

Yen Bai is an early example, when conducting a survey on people’s satisfaction and happiness levels on a province-wide scale. The results not only help the government clearly identify “bright spots” and “bottlenecks” in social life, but also form a new governance culture: every decision is aimed at improving people’s satisfaction.

Hanoi has also officially included “happiness” in its urban development orientation for the 2025–2030 period, with the vision of building a “civilized – modern – happy” capital. This clearly demonstrates the awareness that urban development is not only about expanding physical space, but also about creating a humane and sustainable living environment, where people can live in faith and creative freedom.

Notably, Cao Bang – the first province in this term to hold a provincial Party Congress – has gone a step further: including the “Cao Bang Happiness Index” (CB-HPI) in the Resolution of the Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term. The target is specifically defined: by 2030, over 90% of communes will achieve a CB-HPI score of 90 or higher. This is an institutional breakthrough – when happiness is not only mentioned in discourse, but is quantified, monitored and politically accountable.

According to the work “Building a happy Cao Bang – The path of development for people” by Dr. Quan Minh Cuong, the province not only “mentions happiness”, but also identifies it as the core value system of the entire development model: Taking happiness as the goal, taking culture as competitive identity, taking local internal strength as the foundation, and taking human dignity as the ultimate reason for all government actions.

From happiness to institutional capacity – recommendations for the 14th Congress Documents

Placing “happiness” next to “prosperity” and “civilization” in the Draft Documents of the 14th Congress is not only symbolic, but also suggests a new governance category of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: governance based on the trust and satisfaction of the people. A happy country is not only a place where people have enough to eat and wear, but also a place where they are trusted, listened to and inspired to create the future together.

In this sense, “happiness” is no longer a reward for development, but a measure of institutional capacity – the capacity to recognize and respond to people’s deepest needs: security, dignity, and trust. A strong institution is not a result of orders, but of people’s voluntary trust; and that trust can only be sustained when the government is transparent, fair, and sharing.

From local experiences such as Yen Bai, Hanoi and especially Cao Bang - where the "Happiness Index" has been officially included in the Resolution of the Party Congress - a specific approach can be drawn for the national level. It is recommended that the Draft Document of the 14th Congress consider adding the orientation to build and pilot the Vietnam Happiness Index (VHI), assigning the Government to preside over and work with a number of localities to implement in the period 2025-2030, as a basis for institutionalization in the next term.

On the strategic level, it is necessary to identify “happiness” as the core value of the new stage of Vietnam’s development model – expressed at three levels: political, economic – social and cultural – ethical. Happiness is therefore not only a goal, but also a development method, a principle of action of a constructive state serving the people – where all policies are directed towards people and every person feels that they are a part of the country’s future.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hanh-phuc-mach-nguon-hy-vong-trong-the-che-doi-moi-2454067.html