Requirements for building a generation of youth in the era of national growth
The Vietnamese people are entering a new era of development, a historical period marked by a strong aspiration to rise in all fields. It is an era of breakthrough development, accelerated under the leadership of the Party, successfully building a socialist Vietnam, rich, strong, democratic, fair, civilized, happy; advancing together, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers on the foundation of cultural identity and national self-reliance. In that special context, the youth - a large, dynamic, idealistic social force - is the central factor, a creative, pioneering force contributing to realizing the aspiration to build a strong, prosperous country with a worthy position in the international community.
Socio-economic development strategies, human resource development strategies, and thematic resolutions of the Central Committee... always identify the young generation as an important resource for the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Youth are the main labor force, an abundant human resource; a successor force contributing to the country's rise in the context of global competition and shaping the country's appearance in the new era. In the face of the strong and constantly changing flow of digital transformation, green transformation, and globalization, determining the strategic direction and tasks to build a new generation of youth to meet the requirements of the nation's rising era is considered an objective necessity and a great political mission of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Union.
The development of science and technology has a rapid spread, not only changing the methods of production, management and consumption, but also fundamentally changing the thinking, learning, working and communication methods of people, especially young people. In Vietnam, digital transformation is the core driving force to promote economic growth, innovate the state governance model, improve the quality of public services and improve people's lives.
In that context, young people are not only users of technological achievements, but also need to become a pioneer in applying technological achievements, transferring knowledge, mastering cyberspace and promoting innovation. The historical responsibility is to build a class of "digital citizens" with solid knowledge, comprehensive digital skills, healthy revolutionary ethics and high awareness of law compliance. Young people must be fully equipped to flexibly adapt to the digital environment and scientific and technological achievements, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, cloud computing, biotechnology, financial technology (Fintech)...
In a world that is operating in a multipolar, multi-centered direction, with fierce competition in terms of resources, knowledge and technology, every country must enhance its endogenous strength, in which people are the central factor. With a large proportion of young population, Vietnam is in the "golden period" of population structure, however, that "golden advantage" can only truly be transformed into a "golden opportunity" if it is placed in a comprehensive, synchronous, systematic strategy on education, training, comprehensive human development and effective use of existing resources. Therefore, equipping the youth with the basic knowledge, skills, courage and ethics - the main resource for building and developing new productive forces - is an urgent requirement for the country's breakthrough.
Vietnamese youth are facing intertwined opportunities and challenges: having to integrate deeply into the international community, inherit, preserve and promote national cultural identity; cultivating knowledge while working in a fiercely competitive environment; affirming personal values while being attached to the interests of the community and the nation. This requires the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Federation to strongly innovate in content and methods of operation, and to build a systematic strategic direction and tasks to "carefully prepare a young generation that meets strict standards on human resources for integration and sustainable development" (1) .
Summarizing the contributions, roles and positions of youth throughout the history of building and defending the country, affirming that youth are the mainstay force and the main human resource to bring the country firmly into the new era, on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Comrade Professor, Dr. To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, wrote a very important article for the Youth Union and the youth of the whole country: "The future for the rising generation". In the context of the world entering an era of breakthrough development in technology, the General Secretary set out the requirements that the Vietnamese youth generation must have sharp intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, skills to quickly handle changes in technology, strong physical strength, strong character, and especially must preserve and promote the national cultural identity. The General Secretary emphasized the importance of cultivating moral qualities, profound humanitarian spirit, and a high sense of social responsibility, to build a young generation with the capacity and personality to actively contribute to the overall development of society.
Globalization, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the explosion of the digital world have opened up new spaces for young people to access knowledge, integrate deeply and develop themselves, but also give rise to challenges in political awareness, life ideals and behavioral culture. In a diverse information environment, traditional values are under pressure from many opposing ideologies, a part of young people show signs of indifference to politics, disregard revolutionary ideals, even get caught up in individualism, pragmatic lifestyle, and lack of awareness of community building. This is a threat to erode and destroy the spiritual and cultural foundation of the nation.
Reality has posed an urgent need to consolidate and cultivate the young generation's revolutionary ideals, ethics, cultural lifestyle, enhance patriotism and national pride; nurture ambitions and aspirations to build the country. In particular, it is necessary to raise the awareness of young people about their own mission and responsibility for the future and destiny of the nation and people.
The role of the Youth Union Ho Chi Minh Communist Party and the Vietnam Youth Union in caring for, accompanying and promoting youth in the new era
Built, trained and matured through periods of revolutionary struggle, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Federation have gathered a large number of young people to promote revolutionary heroism, making outstanding contributions to the cause of national liberation, national unification, building and defending the Fatherland. Entering the new period, the Union and the Association continue to promote the nation's precious traditions and their good nature, building a generation of Vietnamese youth rich in patriotism, national self-reliance; steadfast in the ideals of national independence and socialism; with revolutionary ethics, awareness of law observance, cultural life, for the community; with capacity and courage in international integration; with health, knowledge, skills and industrial style in collective labor, becoming good citizens of the country; proactive, creative in mastering advanced science and technology, rising to the level of the times.
With the mission of representing, caring for and protecting the legitimate and legal rights and interests of young people, in recent times, the Youth Union and Association at all levels have synchronously and effectively implemented many large and outstanding movements and programs (2) ; thereby contributing significantly to the successful implementation of socio-economic development goals, maintaining national defense and security and enhancing the country's position in the international arena; at the same time, gradually affirming the role of " a reliable companion " of young people. The content and methods of organizing activities of the Youth Union and Association are increasingly substantial and have many innovations, closely following the needs and aspirations of young people and closer to the grassroots; creating a good environment for young people to practice, experience, promote the spirit of vanguard, volunteerism and creativity of young people. Many new models and good practices have been implemented, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Youth Union and Association at all levels have made efforts to unite and gather specific youth groups, such as ethnic minority youth, religious youth, youth in industrial parks, export processing zones, and boarding houses, and to carry out many practical and effective activities. Many new and typical advanced youth factors have been discovered and honored, contributing to creating a beautiful image of the new generation of Vietnamese youth " pure heart, bright mind, great ambition, and patriotism ".
In addition to the above outstanding results, the work of the Youth Union and the youth movement, as well as the work of the Association and the youth movement, still has some limitations. Although the propaganda and education work of the Union and the Association has been innovated with diverse forms, it has not yet covered all youth groups and components. The work of refuting and fighting against unhealthy trends and tendencies at some times is still passive; the work of updating and grasping trends among youth, creating positive trends on cyberspace to attract members and youth to participate and respond at some levels of the Union and Association has not received attention and has been implemented slowly. The methods of solidarity and gathering of youth are not uniform at all levels, not responding in time to the rapid movement and change of the youth situation and social life, especially the change in the trend of labor migration, industries, occupations, needs of youth, the development of information technology and social networks.
Strategic directions and tasks to build a generation of youth to meet the requirements of the nation's rising era
The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is a member organization under the Vietnam Fatherland Front, demonstrating the core role of the Youth Union in the political system, contributing to gathering and promoting the strength of the great national unity bloc, while affirming the position and responsibility of the youth generation in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. In the context of the country entering a period of rapid, sustainable and comprehensive development, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Union need to determine strategic directions and tasks to build a generation of youth with sufficient qualifications, capacity and qualities to master the times, leading the country to break through and rise up in the new era. In particular, it is necessary to focus on implementing a number of key tasks on the basis of closely following and flexibly and creatively applying the spirit of the four fundamental Resolutions (3) , creating a foundation to help the country take off, meeting the requirements of national development in the new era, specifically:
Firstly , constantly innovate content and methods, improve the quality of propaganda and education work. The education work of the Youth Union needs to focus on orientation and implementation of "3 unities" in the awareness and actions of youth:
1- The ideal of youth is to be steadfast in the Party's ideal; 2- The goal of youth is to contribute to the goals of the Party and the entire nation; 3- The action of youth is to contribute to building a clean and strong Party in all aspects, building a prosperous, civilized and happy country. To do so, it is necessary to be steadfast in the principled content, which is Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought, national independence associated with socialism; adjust methods to suit the requirements of the new situation, focusing on promoting digital transformation; change the direction of propaganda and education of the Youth Union from one-way to multi-dimensional, with regular interaction with union members and youth, making union members the "subject" of educational work. It is necessary to arouse patriotism; foster the will, courage and aspirations of the young generation; take studying and following Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and style as the direction of action. Focus on educating the basic values of culture, tradition and national ethics, the quintessence of human culture, the core and humanistic values of Marxism- Leninism, Ho Chi Minh thought, the Party's platform and guidelines; resolutely fight against manifestations of individualism. Build a culture of preventing and combating waste; make the practice of thrift and combating waste "voluntary", "self-conscious", "daily food, drink, clothing".
In the context of globalization and international integration, cultural exchange, interaction and adaptation take place in all aspects and fields, causing the risk of "cultural invasion", fading the traditional cultural identity of the Vietnamese nation. The Youth Union and Association at all levels must help every Vietnamese youth understand and appreciate historical values, see the good, the beauty, the profound humanistic meaning of traditional culture, thereby raising national pride, sense of responsibility, determination to cultivate, train character, improve qualities and capacities, meet the requirements and tasks of building and defending the Fatherland in the new period.
Second , our country is facing the need for strong and comprehensive reforms to create new momentum for development - the need for digital transformation, application of science, technology, innovation, playing a strategic breakthrough role in the new period, being the main driving force to promote growth. Digital transformation is not simply the application of digital technology to socio-economic activities, but also the process of establishing an advanced and modern production method - "digital production method", in which the characteristic of the productive forces is the harmonious combination of humans and artificial intelligence; data becomes a resource, becomes an important means of production; at the same time, production relations also have profound changes, especially in the form of ownership and distribution of digital means of production. Many important opening policies from the national strategy on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation Development have been issued, aiming to restructure the economy towards modernization, making our country a modern industrial country by 2030.
The Youth Union and Association mobilize a large number of young people to actively and effectively participate in the country's important tasks in the new era, leading Vietnamese youth to advance to master science and technology, constantly innovate and create breakthroughs. To achieve that goal, it is necessary to focus on organizing activities to create an environment to raise awareness, change the thinking and habits of Youth Union and Association officials, union members, association members, and young people about digital transformation, focusing on implementing the policy of "Popular digital education", "Popular AI education" programs, building topics on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in learning, research, work, and creativity; quickly popularize basic knowledge about digital transformation for young people so that young people can take the lead in implementing the national digital transformation policy. Focus on building a large database on young people; Mobilize youth, Youth Union and Association organizations at all levels to participate in building and developing digital infrastructure, information systems, and databases to serve the building of digital government, digital society, and digital citizens.
Third , Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW affirms that the private economy is "the most important driving force of the national economy, the pioneering force to promote growth, create jobs, improve labor productivity, national competitiveness, industrialization, modernization, and economic restructuring towards green, circular, and sustainable development"; Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW, dated October 10, 2023, of the Politburo, on "Building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new period" emphasizes: "The entrepreneur team has an important position and role, is one of the core forces contributing to promoting the cause of industrialization, modernization of the country and international integration; building and developing an independent, autonomous economy, ensuring national defense and security". To contribute to bringing the private economy together with the state economy and the collective economy to build an "independent, autonomous, self-reliant, self-reliant economy associated with deep, substantial and effective international integration, helping the country escape the risk of falling behind and rise to prosperous development", the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Federation must strongly promote the pioneering role of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association in building a strong private business community with high competitiveness, integration capacity and spirit of serving the Fatherland founded and run by young people. As a voluntary social and professional organization of young Vietnamese entrepreneurs and a collective member organization of the Vietnam Youth Federation, after more than 30 years of formation and development, the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association has become an important force in maintaining growth rate, stabilizing the labor market and improving the competitiveness of the national economy; With a network of more than 19,000 members nationwide operating in all economic sectors, generating annual revenue of more than 40 billion USD, contributing more than 10% of the country's GDP and creating jobs for over 5 million workers.
Entering a new era of development of the country, expected to be the vanguard force on the economic front, the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association continues to carry out the mission of building a team of young entrepreneurs with courage, knowledge, responsibility, business ethics, respect for the law, modern management capacity, global vision and deep national spirit; ready to make practical contributions to policy making, marching to participate in key areas, paving the way; pioneering in conquering new limits, contributing to realizing the aspiration of building a strong and prosperous Vietnam.
Fourth , in recent years, along with the development of the economy, Vietnam has achieved many significant achievements in improving the quality of life, education and health for the people. However, the reality shows that the physical condition, overall health and average height of young people still have a clear gap compared to other countries in the region and developed countries in the world. That raises the urgent need to consider improving the physical foundation of the young generation as one of the key tasks, of long-term strategic nature, associated with the process of realizing the aspiration for rapid and sustainable development of the nation.
As a collective member organization of the Vietnam Youth Union and a voluntary social and professional organization of young Vietnamese physicians, striving for the development of young physicians and the cause of protecting, caring for and improving people's health; with more than 90,000 members nationwide, in the coming time, the Vietnam Young Physicians Association needs to gather and promote the spirit of initiative, creativity and intelligence of young physicians, effectively implement digital transformation activities in the medical field, apply modern technology in screening, prevention and treatment; at the same time, focus on training medical ethics, expertise and professionalism for young physicians; strengthen health check-up campaigns, disease screening, early detection and timely intervention of health problems affecting the physical development of adolescents. Focus on implementing programs and activities to improve physical, mental and stature, contributing to building a generation of Vietnamese youth who are physically strong, mentally strong, and ready to shoulder the mission of building the country in the new era.
Fifth , the Youth Union and Association at all levels continue to perform well their role as representatives, caring for and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of young people; accompanying, encouraging and supporting young people to progress and develop comprehensively. Through movements and programs, we must arouse and promote the great potential of young people, launch strong and continuous emulation movements, create all conditions for young people of all classes to participate in learning, improve their capacity, qualities, professional qualifications, practice skills, and help young people improve their quality of life, increase their happiness index, and realize the aspiration of "a prosperous country and happy people". The Youth Union and Association must play the role of a bridge between young people and the Party, the government and the people; create a space to listen to young people speak - mobilize young people to do - and support young people to develop. Strengthening the organization of activities to create an environment to promote youth start-ups, establish careers, and get rich legitimately, focusing on building and perfecting the startup ecosystem, especially innovative startups for young people. Discovering, gathering, nurturing and promoting young talents; encouraging and creating conditions for talented young people to develop their capacity and contribute to the country. It is necessary to pay attention to and do a good job of taking care of the material and spiritual life and health of young people so that they have enough luggage to confidently enter the process of deep international integration.
Sixth , one of the tasks of strategic significance, playing a key role in the process of building and developing a strong Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Union, is to focus on the work of Youth Union and Association cadres, first of all, to pay attention and seriously invest in training and building a team of Youth Union and Association cadres who are enthusiastic, have a sense of responsibility, are good at skills and expertise, are committed and truly prestigious among the youth. Youth Union and Association cadres must be pioneers in innovation, dare to think, dare to speak, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, dare to innovate, dare to face difficulties and challenges and dare to act for the common good, "worry before the youth, be happy after the youth, go first in hardship, come later in enjoyment" (4) .
In the great transformation of the entire nation, our Party and State always attach importance to and highly appreciate the position and role, place deep trust in the young generation, identify youth as holding a central position in the strategy of promoting human factors and resources, and being the pioneer force in carrying out the nation's historical mission, and moving the country into a new era. The requirement to build a generation of young people with courage, knowledge, responsibility, business ethics, respect for the law, modern management capacity, global vision and deep national spirit is a strategic task with a long-term vision, requiring the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Union to raise their thinking, focus on innovation, improve the quality of content, methods of operation, effectiveness of movements, programs, campaigns, and set out directions and tasks to "build a generation of Vietnamese youth with courage, progress, intellectual excellence, physical superiority and rich cultural identity, confident enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with international friends, contributing to bringing the country to strength and development" (5) ./.
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(1), (5) Professor, Dr. To Lam: "The future for the rising generation", Communist Magazine , No. 1058, (March 2025), pp. 9, p. 12
(2) Such as: Youth Volunteer Movement, Creative Youth, Youth Volunteers to Protect the Fatherland, I Love My Fatherland; Programs Accompanying Youth in Studying, Accompanying Youth in Starting a Business, Establishing a Career, Accompanying Youth in Training and Developing Life Skills, Improving Physical Fitness, Spiritual and Cultural Life...
(3) These are: Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, dated December 22, 2024, of the Politburo, "On breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation"; Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW, dated January 24, 2025, of the Politburo, on "International integration in the new situation"; Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW, dated May 4, 2025, of the Politburo, on "private economic development"; Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW, dated April 30, 2025, of the Politburo, "On innovation in law-making and enforcement"
(4) Speech by General Secretary To Lam at the 9th National Congress of the Vietnam Youth Union, December 18, 2024
Source: https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/chinh-tri-xay-dung-dang/-/2018/1134602/xay-dung-the-he-thanh-nien-dap-ung-yeu-cau-ky-nguyen-vuon-minh-cua-dan-toc.aspx
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