Vietnam 2025 - Dawn of a new era

Exactly 50 years ago, on April 30, 1975, the cheers of victory filled the chests of every Vietnamese person across the country, from urban to rural areas, from lowland to highland, and quickly spread across the globe.

Victory! Victory!

Peace! Unity!

Exactly 50 years ago, on April 30, 1975, the cheers of victory filled the chests of every Vietnamese person across the country, from urban to rural areas, from lowland to highland, and quickly spread across the globe.

Vietnam wins! A great victory of Vietnamese will, mettle, and intelligence! A victory of human conscience!

" Day goes like a dream"

In the past few days, our whole country has been rejoicing in the joy of the Total Victory Day. The image of two tanks 390 and 834 entering the Independence Palace at noon on April 30, 1975 has once again awakened in every Vietnamese heart pride and gratitude for those who made history. Ho Chi Minh City, resplendent with its golden name, is living in the unforgettable "days like in a dream" of the parade and activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country. Not only more than 10 million people of the city named after Uncle Ho, but also countless people from all over the country have come here, staying up all night on the streets of Saigon to see the heroic troops and representative blocs in the special parade. In the beautiful sunshine and cool weather, the Anniversary Ceremony and the parade on the morning of April 30 have stirred up intense emotions and deep pride in our beloved Vietnam. The people's hearts have truly made the National Festival!

Art program to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025). - Photo: Culture Newspaper

So beautiful! The most beautiful is the people's heart! The most beautiful is the Vietnamese smile on the day of victory! A beautiful victory of the aspiration for peace ! A beautiful victory of the aspiration for national unification! On the day of great victory, we are moved to remember the words of beloved President Ho Chi Minh at the Vietnam - France Conference in Fontainebleau: "The South is the blood of Vietnam's blood, the flesh of Vietnam's flesh. Rivers may dry up, mountains may wear away, but that truth will never change!". During the reception of former US Secretary of Defense McNamara when he returned to Vietnam after the war, General Vo Nguyen Giap said: "Vietnam fights for Peace".

The path of Independence - Freedom - Peace is a path of arduous and fierce struggle with countless losses and sacrifices of our people throughout the 20th century. The victory of April 30, 1975 was a great victory against foreign invaders of the entire Vietnamese nation! Right on April 30, 1975, as soon as the gunshots stopped, millions of Saigon people poured into the streets, filled with flags and flowers to welcome the Liberation Army. And today, the atmosphere of the day when the country was filled with joy is re-enacted in the sense of a new era - the era of the nation's rise.

Vietnamese Spirit - Vietnamese Truth

During my working life, I have had the opportunity to meet, exchange and discuss with many foreign writers, journalists, researchers and politicians about what they call the "Vietnam Question". Each person has a different way of addressing it, but in general, they all want to explain together why Vietnam can "overcome" so miraculously both in war and in peacetime, especially when facing the most dangerous situations to be able to survive and develop as it is today.

What is the biggest secret? It is the Vietnamese Spirit!

The Vietnamese spirit shines first of all with patriotism, self-reliance, "using our own strength to liberate ourselves", refusing to submit to any invading force, and is forged in the truth "Nothing is more precious than Independence and Freedom".

Many scholars believe that Vietnam is a special and fascinating phenomenon in world history. This is one of the places where the great conflicts of the era converged, where fierce and very strange wars took place between very unequal opponents. When Vietnam began its historical confrontations with invaders many times stronger, few people dared to believe that Vietnam would win. When Vietnam won, people found it difficult to answer the big question with common logic: Why did those powerful invaders lose in Vietnam? Many international researchers consider these to be the most unique "births" in war of a nation that contained within itself strange powers.

Tolerance and forgiveness are the shining manifestations of the Vietnamese humanistic spirit that has been spread throughout the history of building and defending the country. After Liberation Day, there was no "bloodbath" as the hostile forces had been spreading, but a policy of national reconciliation so that all Vietnamese people, despite their different circumstances during the war, looked in the same direction and united in rebuilding the country after the war.

"Using great justice to defeat cruelty" and peace and harmony are fine traditions of the Vietnamese people. Overcoming hatred, with the policy of "putting the past behind and opening up the future", Vietnam has established comprehensive strategic partnerships with all major countries that previously invaded Vietnam. This is something that is not easily seen in the history of international relations. The Vietnamese humanistic spirit has become a beautiful light that has the power to inspire and persuade in building international relations.

From "former enemies" in the war, Vietnam and the US have established diplomatic relations at the highest level of comprehensive strategic partnership. After Mr. D. Trump returned to the White House, General Secretary To Lam had an open phone call with the US President. When the US announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on goods from 186 countries and territories, of which Vietnamese goods were subject to a 46% tax rate, General Secretary To Lam was one of the first heads of state to have a phone call with Mr. Trump - a phone call that Mr. Trump himself assessed as "very effective". Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc flew to the US to negotiate with US partners; then, the two sides had many discussions at different levels to satisfactorily resolve the tariff issue, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, and continue to move the relationship between the two countries forward.

The confident, flexible and supple steps following the motto of multilateralization and diversification in international relations, especially with major countries, have demonstrated Vietnam's new strategic posture and position in the new era. From now on, Vietnam has a comprehensive and complete strategic partnership with all three major powers: China, Russia and the United States. There have been concerns and warnings here and there that Vietnam is "stuck" in the conflict and tense confrontation between the US and China and between the US and Russia. But reality has shown that the breakthrough in bringing Vietnam - US relations to the highest level has not hindered or disrupted Vietnam's relations with China, Russia and other major countries. It is clear that, despite pursuing different and even conflicting strategic goals, major countries all respect Vietnam's independent and autonomous foreign policy.

On the S-shaped land, there are 54 ethnic groups living with many religions, beliefs, and diverse cultural identities, but there are no religious and ethnic conflicts or contradictions, but they always live together in a spirit of harmony and sustainable national solidarity. At each historical moment when facing dangerous and life-threatening challenges, the spirit of patriotism and national solidarity is further consolidated and promoted, becoming an unparalleled strength, creating miracles and glorious feats. In the "Era of national growth", patriotism, the spirit of great solidarity, Vietnamese intelligence and mettle need to be highly concentrated to achieve the goal of becoming a developed, high-income country at the historical milestone of 100 years of the country's founding in 2045. Twenty years is not too long a time to achieve that great goal. Therefore, the bravery and intelligence of the entire nation, the efforts of all Vietnamese people from all over the world (more than 100 million people in the country and 5.3 million people abroad) need to be united and shine at a new, higher level to realize the aspiration of strength, prosperity and happiness.

Establishing the "strategic quartet" - New driving force for creation

"Knowing others is smart, but knowing yourself is wise." We know that our country is rich in potential, but at the same time still lacks many essential things. These are "bottlenecks" in the development process. Our country is still at risk of falling into the "middle-income trap".

The year 2025 marks a special milestone in the development process of our country. The revolution to streamline the Vietnamese political system in 2025 carries with it an urgent and burning demand like a verdict of history!

The bustling atmosphere has started since the end of 2024 and has become more urgent in the first months of 2025 in the spirit of "running and lining up at the same time" so that the streamlining is completed before the Party congresses at all levels are held so that by the beginning of 2026, the 14th Party Congress will officially declare the beginning of the "Era of national rise". But "running and lining up at the same time" must still be orderly and disciplined. An unprecedentedly large and complex amount of work. To avoid confusion and stagnation, a level of organizational science is needed that is much higher than usual. The streamlining of the apparatus involves 19,200 legal regulations. By the end of April 2025, the pace will be even more urgent after the 11th Central Conference. It is necessary to create a new legal framework, including amending and supplementing the Constitution to merge 63 provinces and cities into 34 (28 provinces, 6 centrally-run cities), implementing a 2-level local government structure, no longer at the district level, merging commune-level administrative units to ensure the number of communes is reduced by 60-70% compared to the present. In society, there have been many voices wishing that the naming of new localities after the merger should pay special attention to historical, cultural, spiritual factors, protecting and promoting precious traditional values, and unique features of the lands that have been deeply imprinted in the hearts of Vietnamese people through generations. A name is not just a title. Public opinion welcomes Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some localities for choosing famous places that have been deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people to name new wards and communes. That is the right way to exploit precious traditional cultural and historical values ​​for today's and tomorrow's development.

The reorganization of the political system must be completed before June 30, 2025, effective from July 1, 2025. It must be drastic but not extreme or arbitrary, so there should be a transition period to ensure smooth, uninterrupted operations, in line with the merger roadmap. It must be urgent but still satisfactory, thorough and sympathetic. Reduce focal points and personnel but do not leave empty positions, or omit functions and tasks. Do your best to avoid the situation where good people leave and bad people stay in the public apparatus.

To create high unity from awareness to action, on April 16, 2025, a National Conference was held to disseminate Resolution 11 of the 13th Central Executive Committee. This is an unprecedented conference in the form of a direct conference from the Central bridge at Dien Hong Hall, the National Assembly House, combined with online access to 21,000 bridges nationwide with more than 1.5 million delegates attending. At this conference, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that leaders at all levels and the 14th Congress must have "enough virtue - enough talent - enough heart - enough scope - enough strength - enough revolutionary enthusiasm"; be consistent with the principle of "locality decides, locality does, locality takes responsibility"; overcome regional psychology and mood to move towards a broader mindset and vision of "the country is the homeland"...

Streamlining to make the apparatus lighter, more flexible, and more resilient. The apparatus only operates efficiently and effectively when power is given to people who are trustworthy in both capacity and virtue. Therefore, decentralization is not only about giving power but more deeply about giving trust and responsibility to serve. Power is always associated with accountability.

Streamlining the apparatus is the ability to self-recognize limitations and weaknesses, demonstrating the Vietnamese people's ability to overcome themselves, determined to abandon old habits to overcome poverty and backwardness. This is not simply adjusting the apparatus organization and administrative boundaries, but also adjusting the economic space, adjusting the decentralization and allocation of resources for development. This is not only changing the way the public apparatus operates and reforming the procedures, but looking further, it also contributes to shaping the development mindset of the nation and the future of the country.

It can be said that the "strategic quartet" for the country to rise up has been identified: breakthrough in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation; streamlining the organization of the political system; developing the private economic sector; promoting international integration in the new situation. The horizon of innovation is wide open. At the thematic meeting on law-making in April 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated: "If you don't know, don't manage". This short statement shows a new legal mindset on State management, completely shifting from the mindset of "if you can't manage, then ban" to "if you don't know, then don't manage", from control to encouragement of creativity and experimentation. That is a strategic vision in the context of fierce competition when the world is deeply integrated, and any country with flexible institutions will gain an advantage with outstanding progress.

Journalist Ho Quang Loi, former Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, author of the article - Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA

Intense desire for prosperity and wealth

The desire to contribute to the country's prosperity is burning brightly in patriotic hearts. In the past, generations of fathers and grandfathers made miracles in the resistance wars against foreign invaders, regaining independence, freedom, peace and unity for the country. Generations of Vietnamese people today are entering a new battle to fight poverty and backwardness. In every field, there are beautiful and inspiring stories. Many young intellectuals and scientists have been contributing to the country with inventions and innovations in various fields, demonstrating the spirit of new engagement of Vietnamese intelligence.

Our country’s economy is getting a strong boost as the Party and State have identified the private economy as the leading important driving force. Along with large private economic groups that have made worthy contributions to the country in the years of innovation such as Vin Group, Sun Group, Hoa Phat, Truong Hai, Vinamilk, VietJet, TH True Milk…, in the new national governance system that is being established, there will be more private enterprises joining the game with new energy sources.

In the field of culture and art, a beautiful story is spreading, that is the music video Bac Bling, with the participation of two artists of two generations Xuan Hinh and Hoa Minzy, has reached more than 100 million views after only one month of release, creating strong emotions about the immortal vitality of national culture if there is the participation of enthusiasm, talent and creativity of the young generation. It is really proud of the charming beauty of our national culture when enjoying the MV Bac Bling. In many places, primary school children have also memorized and sung Bac Bling. Not only Vietnamese people but also many foreigners are very excited when watching this MV. That shows the wonderful ability to integrate and spread Vietnamese traditional culture in the creative inspiration of the new generation.

And right on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, the film "Tunnels - Sun in the Dark" by director Bui Thac Chuyen - an excellent film, full of artistic creativity and respect for history - was widely released and caused a strong emotion in the public, not only in the older audience who experienced the war but also in many young people about the bravery, loyalty, noble soul, and willingness to sacrifice for the Fatherland of the people who lived and fought in the legendary Cu Chi Tunnels right next to the enemy's lair during the years of resistance against the US to save the country.

A new feeling spreads strongly throughout society when the spirit of the April 30 Victory Day is blending with fresh inspirations of construction and unprecedented, strong, and decisive demands as a command of life and the future of the nation.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/viet-nam-2025-binh-minh-ky-nguyen-moi-20250430101243017.htm