Change to reach further

In the face of increasingly demanding requirements, people-to-people diplomacy should not only focus on maintaining and expanding friendly relations, but also proactively participate in creating a favorable environment for development; contribute to consolidating strategic trust; enhance national soft power; and protect national interests in a multi-layered, multi-centered world.

The Spring of the Year of the Horse 2026 arrives amidst a world undergoing epochal changes: Strategic competition among major powers is expanding across multiple sectors; global supply chains and economic structures are being reshaped; digital transformation, green transformation, and artificial intelligence are experiencing explosive growth; and non-traditional security challenges, climate change, local conflicts, and humanitarian crises are intertwined in a complex manner.

In this context, Vietnam is not only proactively adapting but is also gradually asserting its role as a responsible, capable, and visionary nation. After nearly 40 years of reform, under the leadership of the Party, our country has accumulated new strength and momentum: maintaining independence, sovereignty , and territorial integrity; stable macroeconomic conditions; expanded foreign relations with most countries and major centers of power; and increasingly consolidated international standing and prestige.

The 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam is introduced at the 14th National Congress of the Party. (Photo: Nhan Dan Newspaper)

Among the overall achievements of the nation, the forces working in foreign affairs have made positive contributions to establishing and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, firmly protecting the Fatherland; and leveraging external resources and favorable conditions for national development. People-to-people diplomacy has continued to affirm its role as a pillar, contributing to building a positive and favorable social foundation for relations between Vietnam and other countries, connecting the "Party's will" with the "people's aspirations," and combining national strength with the strength of the times.

From Ho Chi Minh's ideology to the demands of the new era.

President Ho Chi Minh's philosophy of "making more friends and fewer enemies" laid the foundation for Vietnam's people-to-people diplomacy. With the motto of "diplomacy through sincerity and persuasion," and "conquering through reason and morality," people-to-people diplomacy contributed to the formation of a broad global people's front supporting Vietnam's just cause in its struggles for national liberation and reunification. This was not merely a method of international mobilization, but a culmination of the nation's humanistic traditions and a strategic vision of the people's strength in international relations.

During periods of peace, construction, and integration, people-to-people diplomacy continues to play a bridging role between Vietnam and international organizations, movements, intellectuals, businesses, and the international community; mobilizing international resources for development; and consolidating the social foundation for bilateral and multilateral relations. The persistence of international exchanges, cooperation, and advocacy activities has contributed to creating a favorable environment for the country's gradual and deeper integration.

However, entering a new era of development, the context and requirements have changed. The international environment is more dynamic, the standards of cooperation are higher, and strategic competition is more complex.

General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, together with General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping and other delegates, performed the launching ceremony of the "Red Journey for Youth Research and Learning" on April 15, 2025 in Hanoi. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

In this context, faced with increasingly demanding requirements, people-to-people diplomacy should not only focus on maintaining and expanding friendly relations, but also proactively participate in creating a favorable environment for development; contribute to consolidating strategic trust; enhance national soft power; and protect national interests in a multi-layered, multi-centered world.

Delegates attending the 5th International Conference on Cooperation between Vietnam and Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Partners for Prosperous and Sustainable Development, organized by the Committee on Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, on December 4, 2025 in Hanoi. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

It is within this dynamic that the practical realities of 2025 become a crucial test. Amidst the many changes in the global and regional situation, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and its member organizations have strived to innovate their thinking, approaches, content, and methods of operation; shifting from "participation" to "proactive creation," from "exchange" to "value creation," making positive contributions to strengthening the social foundation for foreign relations and mobilizing international resources for development.

Leaders, former leaders, and staff of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations from various periods watch a video clip summarizing the results of their work in 2025, including the application of artificial intelligence. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

However, compared to the increasingly high demands of the Party and State leaders in the new era, people-to-people diplomacy still has limitations in research and advisory capacity, digital transformation and application of science and technology, the level of alignment with the country's major development priorities, as well as the quality and continuity of the staff.

These insights are not intended to dwell on the past, but rather to clearly identify the gap between current requirements and capabilities – thereby creating momentum for a more significant shift in 2026 and beyond.

2026 – A turning point for the entire system.

The 14th National Congress of the Party established a vision for the road ahead: maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; developing the country rapidly and sustainably and firmly protecting the Fatherland; comprehensively improving and enhancing the people's lives; achieving strategic autonomy, self-reliance, and confident progress in the new era of the nation; successfully achieving the goal of transforming into a developing country with modern industry and high middle income by 2030; and realizing the vision of becoming a developed country with high income by 2045 for a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, civilized, happy Vietnam, steadily advancing towards socialism.

At the ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations' Traditional Day, Comrade Bui Thi Minh Hoai, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, emphasized the requirement that "the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and its member organizations need to truly transform, make breakthroughs, and innovate more strongly to live up to the traditions of our forefathers, and to maintain their core role in people-to-people diplomacy, one of the three pillars of Vietnam's comprehensive and modern diplomacy." This requirement is not only a guideline but also a responsibility placed upon the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and its member organizations.

Ms. Bui Thi Minh Hoai, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Central Mass Organizations, and Chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, presented the First-Class Labor Order to the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations on November 17, 2025, in Hanoi. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

In that spirit, several key tasks need to be implemented simultaneously:

Firstly, we need to redefine the role of people-to-people diplomacy, including the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, in the national development strategy. Each program and cooperation activity should be directly linked to the major priorities identified by the 14th National Congress: science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, and the development of high-quality human resources.

Secondly, improve the quality of research, forecasting, and strategic advice. Establish mechanisms for monitoring and analyzing international information; strengthen coordination with research institutions; proactively identify risks and opportunities early; and make practical contributions to policy planning.

Thirdly, we need to promote comprehensive digital transformation within the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations system; build a partner database; digitize management processes; enhance international communication capabilities; and proactively establish a positive presence in the digital space.

Fourth, develop a workforce with strong political convictions, a global mindset, and technological capabilities; invest in foreign language training, digital skills, and international dialogue skills; and create opportunities for young officials to grow in practice.

Fifth, strengthen close coordination with the Party's foreign affairs and the State's diplomacy; at the same time, expand the participation of localities, businesses, intellectuals, youth, and the Vietnamese community abroad, forming a broad, substantive, and effective people's foreign affairs front.

This is not just a job requirement, but a political commitment of those working in people-to-people diplomacy in response to the country's new development needs.

New Year – Faith and Aspiration

Spring is always the season of new beginnings and hope. With a foundation of 75 years of tradition, under the leadership of the Party, the State, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and with the determination of the entire system, Vietnam's people-to-people diplomacy has all the conditions to make a strong transformation: a transformation to enhance capabilities, a transformation to adapt, a transformation to proactively open up new spaces for cooperation, and a transformation to reach further in its mission of connecting the Vietnamese people with the people of the world.

Entering the new era ushered in by the 14th National Congress, every official working in people-to-people diplomacy needs to possess a spirit of responsibility, courage, and a desire to contribute; so that each bridge of friendship built today will become a foundation for the country's further progress in the future.

Spring of the Year of the Horse 2026 – A spring of faith and aspirations for the nation to reach further.

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/thay-doi-de-vuon-xa-219666.html