Institutional innovation, promoting national self-reliance

Each opinion comes from leadership and management practices, reflecting the aspiration to build a strong Vietnam, develop sustainably and maintain independence and autonomy in the new era.

Need to concretize the spirit of "strategic autonomy - national self-reliance"

Party member Do Minh Quang, former acting Chief of Office of the National Assembly Delegation of Tay Ninh province, said that the draft political report submitted to the 14th Congress clearly stated the spirit of "strategic autonomy, self-reliance, self-confidence, and strong progress in the era of national development". However, it is necessary to clarify the content and specific implementation level of "strategic autonomy" at all levels from the central to local levels.

Mr. Quang analyzed: If we only stop at policies, it will be difficult to create real momentum. Each province, city, and economic region needs a roadmap and specific criteria for self-reliance capacity, from economic management, science and technology, to the ability to adapt to international fluctuations. Only then will the spirit of self-reliance become action, not just a slogan.

Party member Do Minh Quang also emphasized that to achieve the goal of rapid and sustainable development, Vietnam needs to set clear targets on labor productivity, technology localization rate, and the contribution of domestic enterprises to the global value chain. This is the foundation for measuring the endogenous strength of the economy.

He suggested that the congress documents should address more deeply the risks of the world situation: strategic competition, supply chain disruption, climate change, epidemics, etc. are all direct challenges. Strategic autonomy must include the resilience and adaptability of the socio-economy.

From many years of experience working in border localities, he shared: Autonomy at the provincial and regional levels cannot be just administrative management, but must be development autonomy - having the right to proactively mobilize resources, regional cooperation, and regional linkages, to both maintain sovereignty and develop the economy. Specifically, Tay Ninh is a province with a special position, a gateway for trade between Vietnam and Cambodia, through international border gates, bringing great opportunities for industrial development, border trade, spiritual and ecological tourism, but also posing challenges in infrastructure, human resources and border management. Therefore, Tay Ninh needs to be more decentralized to self-plan policies to attract investment, develop regional infrastructure and effectively exploit border potential associated with protecting national sovereignty.

Mr. Do Minh Quang believes that institutions are the “key” to realizing development aspirations. He proposed that the 14th Party Congress should further emphasize the spirit of “institutional breakthrough”, especially simplifying procedures and decentralizing power to localities, so that resources in the people and businesses can be unlocked. “It is time to shift from the mindset of ‘asking and giving’ to the mindset of ‘serving and taking responsibility’. Officials and civil servants must be evaluated by the effectiveness of their actions and the satisfaction of the people and businesses,” he said.

According to Mr. Do Minh Quang, if the spirit of innovation is strongly institutionalized, provinces and cities like Tay Ninh - where there is potential in industry, agriculture and border tourism - will have the opportunity to develop breakthroughs, making practical contributions to the growth of the Southeast region and the whole country.

Building a team of professional staff, promoting the strength of the whole people

Sharing with the sense of responsibility of an experienced party member, Mr. Do Van Thu, former Vice President of the Veterans Association of Tay Ninh province, said that in the context of the country entering a new development stage, Party building and human resource development need to be placed at the center of all strategies.

“A strong Party is thanks to good cadres. A developed country is thanks to good people. Therefore, the 14th Party Congress needs to make a breakthrough in standardizing, rejuvenating and professionalizing the team of leaders and managers,” Mr. Thu emphasized.

According to Mr. Do Van Thu, the draft document has identified many important solutions, but it needs to be more specific with quantitative indicators such as: Increasing the proportion of young cadres (under 45 years old) holding key leadership positions; expanding cadre training on digital transformation, green economy, modern governance; encouraging local cadres to go on field trips to key economic regions to learn new models. He especially emphasized the factors of discipline, integrity and creativity in the cadre team. According to him, these three values must become mandatory criteria in evaluating and appointing cadres, not just incentive criteria. A good cadre must not only know how to work, but also dare to take responsibility and dare to innovate for the common good.

In addition, party member Do Van Thu said that it is necessary to further promote the strength of national solidarity. The Party needs to have a mechanism so that the people can truly know, discuss, monitor and benefit.

He said: When soliciting comments on draft documents, there should be a clear feedback mechanism, announcing which content has been accepted, which content remains unchanged and why. If this is done, people's trust in the Party will increase many times over. For border localities such as Tay Ninh, he proposed to further promote "military - people - Party linkage" to both ensure national defense and security and develop the border economy. "When people in border areas are well cared for and have stable livelihoods, they are the 'living milestones' protecting the Fatherland," he shared.

The two opinions of two veteran party members, coming from different perspectives, meet at one point: Strong innovation, substantive action, taking people as the root, and focusing on cadres.

These heartfelt comments not only demonstrate the sense of responsibility of veteran party members, but also represent the voice of many cadres, party members and people across the country, hoping that the 14th Party Congress will truly be a historic turning point, opening a new stage of development, where every locality and every person has the opportunity to contribute and enjoy the fruits of the country's development.