Speech by General Secretary To Lam at the reception of the delegation attending the 7th International Conference on Vietnam Studies

On the morning of October 26, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam received the delegation attending the 7th International Conference on Vietnamese Studies. Tin Tuc and Dan Toc Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) respectfully introduces the full text of General Secretary To Lam's speech to the delegates attending the 7th International Conference on Vietnamese Studies.

General Secretary To Lam speaks. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Dear Vietnamese and international scientists and scholars,

Dear delegates attending the meeting.

First of all, on behalf of the Party, State and People of Vietnam, I would like to send to all of you my respectful greetings, sincere thanks and deep friendship. The presence of many Vietnamese and international scientists and scholars at the Seventh International Conference on Vietnamese Studies, with the theme "Vietnam: Sustainable Development in the New Era", demonstrates a very important thing: Vietnam is not only a research subject, but has also become an intellectual partner of Vietnamese scholars. We have had 6 conferences on the country and people of Vietnam and I think we will continue in the future because Vietnam is always one of your endless sources of scientific inspiration.

Dear Vietnam scholars, ladies and gentlemen,

Vietnam is a country not large in area and population compared to many powers in the world , but it is a country with a history of forming, building, protecting and developing the nation continuously for thousands of years. That history creates a very special identity. It is the courage to not yield to any invasion, storms and hurricanes; the intelligence to know how to adapt, to know how to learn, to know how to combine traditional strength with new knowledge; the will that "nothing is more precious than independence and freedom"; the aspiration to build a fair, humane society for the people.

Through the dynasties of building and defending the country, the Vietnamese people have formed a long-standing culture, taking the people's hearts as the root, taking humane ethics as the foundation, taking the spirit of independence and autonomy as the lifeblood. Talking about Vietnam is talking about culture - a culture that is not only a spiritual and artistic heritage, but also an endogenous capacity for longevity. Vietnamese culture is the crystallization of national identity and interaction with humanity; it is the spiritual foundation of society, soft power, and the "development identity" of the nation.

Vietnamese culture is a culture that is always in motion, always innovating, always open to absorbing the quintessence from outside, while at the same time maintaining its core values. It is this vitality that has helped our nation overcome war, regenerate from devastation and enter a new period of development with increasing confidence.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A turning point in the history of our nation was the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1930. Since then, the past 95 years have been 95 years of fundamental changes in the fate of the nation. Under the leadership of the Party, the Vietnamese people gained independence, unified the country, ended the yoke of domination and prolonged war, and especially, opened the path of socialist-oriented development - a path that puts people at the center of development.

We attach great importance to peace. I would like to emphasize this strongly. Peace, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are immutable principles. However, Vietnam always perseveres in resolving all issues by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. We deeply understand that peace does not come naturally, but must go through struggle. Peace is only sustainable if it goes hand in hand with equitable, inclusive and sustainable development.

Forty years ago, in 1986, we started the Doi Moi career. Doi Moi is not just about economic adjustment. Doi Moi is a strategic decision, a development choice based on innovative thinking, innovative institutions, innovative leadership methods, associated with openness, integration, proactive and deep participation in the political, economic and cultural life of the region and the world. Doi Moi has created a leap forward in development, transforming Vietnam from a poor country, heavily devastated by war, into a dynamic, deeply integrated economy, actively participating in regional and global value chains.

Today, Vietnam has established strategic and comprehensive partnerships with many countries; is an active and responsible member of the international community; participates in many new-generation free trade agreements; contributes its voice to global issues such as food security, climate change, green transformation, digital transformation, and narrowing development inequality. We participate in international integration with the motto of joining hands with the international community to build a world order based on law, fairness, inclusiveness, and respect for the legitimate interests of all countries, large or small.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The theme of this conference: "Vietnam: sustainable development in the new era", poses the vital question for us at this time: How to develop the country quickly while maintaining political and social stability; how to grow the economy without sacrificing social justice; how to modernize the country without harming the ecological environment and cultural and ethical values ​​of the Vietnamese people; how to "integrate without dissolving" into world politics, the international economy and human civilization, so that Socialist Vietnam can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world powers.

For us, rapid and sustainable development is a unified entity. Growth is only meaningful if every citizen enjoys the fruits of development in a fair, safe and humane way; the real quality of life of the people is improved; no one is left behind; the future of future generations is not traded off to meet the immediate interests of today's generation. Therefore, we advocate development based on three closely linked pillars.

First, develop institutions, policies, and national governance in the direction of strategic autonomy, modernity, transparency, integrity, effectiveness, and efficiency. Build a socialist rule-of-law State of the People, by the People, for the People, a State that both creates development, ensures social justice, and resolutely prevents and combats corruption, negativity, and group interests. This is our political focus.

Second, comprehensively develop Vietnamese people. Education, health care, science and technology, innovation, culture. These are considered the core factors, the direct resources of development. I affirm that: Vietnam's most valuable resource is not minerals, not the geo-strategic position, but the 106 million Vietnamese people today, who are industrious, creative, patriotic, community-minded, eager to learn and know how to rise up in difficult circumstances. If we do not liberate and maximize the intellectual strength, morality, personality, and sense of social responsibility of each Vietnamese person, it will be difficult for us to reach the set goals.

Third, developing a green economy, a circular economy, a knowledge-based economy, a digital economy, linked to science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation. The path to sustainable development in the 21st century cannot rely solely on the exploitation of material resources, cheap labor, or traditional advantages, but must rely on knowledge, technology, innovation, and smart governance. Vietnam is fully aware of its responsibility in the face of the challenges of climate change, rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. We identify green growth and sustainable development as strategic, irreversible choices.

I would also like to emphasize that sustainable development for us is not only an economic and environmental issue. It is also a cultural, social, human and ethical issue. A sustainably developed society is a society that values ​​truth, reason, fairness and humanity; a society where the elderly are respected, children are protected, women are given equal opportunities, the vulnerable are protected; a society where people's trust in the Party, the State, the regime and the future is always strong. Development without these values ​​is not sustainable; it is not our goal.

Dear scientists,

I highly appreciate that this Conference not only discusses Vietnamese history, culture, and art, which have always been the traditional strengths of the Vietnamese research community, but also delves into structural topics of strategic significance for the future of our country: policy institutions, science and technology, innovation, health, education, economics, ideology, and social policy.

In other words, you are not only researching “Who was Vietnam in the past”, but also contributing to answering the question “Who will Vietnam be in the future”. This is a contribution that has both academic and strategic value.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the scientists, scholars, and experts in Vietnamese studies who have devoted much enthusiasm and many years of serious, honest, and objective work to researching Vietnam. Your works not only help the world understand us better, but also help us to look at ourselves more frankly. In the process of formulating guidelines, policies, and strategies for national development, the Party and State of Vietnam always listen to independent, serious, and good-willed scientific criticism. Valuable research, rich in practical content, and with a long-term vision, is a valuable source of reference for us in building a national development strategy.

I hope that, after this workshop, your findings and policy recommendations, especially in areas such as institutional improvement, high-quality human resource development, narrowing regional development gaps, climate change adaptation, equitable energy transition, protection of cultural heritage in the urbanization process, building a national innovation ecosystem, etc., will continue to be shared and discussed in more depth with relevant agencies of Vietnam.

We have a very clear, very specific, very consistent aspiration: to build Vietnam into a developed, high-income, socialist-oriented country by the middle of the 21st century. That is our second Centenary Goal, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in 2045. The first Centenary Goal, coming up in 2030, is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam and also the milestone we strive to achieve in becoming a modern, industrialized, upper-middle-income developing country.

These two 100-year goals are not just timelines, not just political slogans. They are a commitment to the Vietnamese people today, and to future generations. They are also Vietnam’s commitment to international friends: Vietnam wants to grow through knowledge, creativity, equal cooperation and mutual respect; Vietnam wants to contribute to the common progress of humanity, together create achievements through creative work and together enjoy those achievements.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We enter a new phase of development with new thinking, but with values ​​that never change.

Firstly, national independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacred and inviolable. No development is meaningful if it comes at the expense of the independence that generations of fathers and brothers had to sacrifice their blood to regain.

Second, people's happiness must be measured by housing, education, health care, a clean living environment, opportunities to create a better life for each family, and the belief that our children will live better than we do today. A ruling party can only be worthy of the people if all its decisions are aimed at improving the real lives of its people.

Third, Vietnam's strength is first and foremost the strength of national solidarity. History has proven that when the entire nation is united, no force can subdue Vietnam. National solidarity has been our way of existence throughout history. In the new stage of development, national solidarity must be expanded further, including intellectuals at home and abroad, the business community, artists, youth, women, compatriots of ethnic groups, religions, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends who are attached to Vietnam with goodwill and mutual respect. I want to emphasize: international friends who understand and love Vietnam, who research Vietnam honestly, objectively, and constructively, are part of Vietnam's soft power.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope that the community of Vietnamese scholars will continue to accompany us, not only with sentiment but also with scientific knowledge, with policy analysis based on scientific evidence, with specific, practical, and implementable recommendations. I hope that research on Vietnam will increasingly be linked to the urgent issues: population aging; developing primary health care and comprehensive social security; ensuring energy security in the context of a commitment to reduce emissions; protecting digital sovereignty and cultural identity in the digital space; how to make artificial intelligence and automation serve human development, not eliminate humans.

I also strongly urge international researchers, postgraduates, and scientists to come to Vietnam more, stay in Vietnam longer, work with Vietnamese colleagues more equally, and listen to voices from the grassroots, from the locality, from the community, and not just look at Vietnam through aggregated data. I believe that Vietnam is a land rich in scientific materials for those interested in development, transformation, modernization, and sustainability.

Dear scientists, scholars and ladies and gentlemen,

Vietnam enters the new era with great aspirations, but also with a humble, open-minded, and listening attitude. We have no illusions that the road ahead will be easy. Today's global challenges, geostrategic competition, climate change, crisis of confidence, polarization between rich and poor, and technological inequality, cannot be solved by any country alone. Therefore, we always attach importance to dialogue, cooperation, respect for international law, and promote effective and fair multilateralism.

Vietnam wants to be a good friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community. Vietnam wants to work with the world to protect peace, promote sustainable development, promote social justice, and spread progressive humanistic values ​​of humanity. That is not just a foreign policy. It is a civilized choice, a moral choice.

Once again, thank you to all the scientists, Vietnamologists, experts, comrades and friends who have devoted their hearts to Vietnam, accompanied Vietnam for many years and are present in Hanoi today.

We appreciate, thank and expect a lot from you.

I wish you all good health, happiness and inspiration for new research on Vietnam, an independent, self-reliant, innovative, rapidly and sustainably developing Vietnam in the new era.

Thank you very much.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/phat-bieu-cua-tong-bi-thu-to-lam-tai-cuoc-tiep-doan-dai-bieu-tham-du-hoi-thao-quoc-te-viet-nam-hoc-lan-thu-7-20251026125549033.htm