Eighth Party Congress: Industrialization and modernization of the country
The Central Committee of the Party has determined that it is necessary to continue the reform process, transitioning the country to a new period of development - a period of accelerated industrialization and modernization.
EIGHTH PARTY CONGRESS
Time:June 28th to July 1st, 1996
Location: Hanoi
Number of delegates attending the Congress:1,196
Number of party members in the country: over 2 million
The congress elected:
- General Secretary: Comrade Do Muoi was re-elected as General Secretary.
(December 1997: Comrade Le Kha Phieu became General Secretary)
- Central Committee of the Party: 170 full members
- Politburo: 19 members
- Advisor to the Central Executive Committee: ComradeNguyen Van Linh,Pham Van Dong,Vo Chi Cong.
GENERAL CONTEXT
- The collapse of the socialist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries caused socialism to temporarily decline, but this did not change the nature of the era; humanity is still in a transitional period towards socialism.
The threat of a devastating world war has been averted, but armed conflicts, local wars, ethnic and religious conflicts, arms races, interventionist activities, subversion, and terrorism still occur in many places.
The scientific and technological revolution continues to develop at an ever-increasing level.
The Asia-Pacific region is developing dynamically, but it also harbors several factors that could cause instability.
- After 10 years of implementing the comprehensive reform policy, the country has achieved outstanding successes in many areas. The material living standards of the majority of the people have improved. Democracy has been promoted. The people's trust in the regime and the future of the country, in the Party and the State, has been affirmed. Our country has emerged from the socio-economic crisis, but some aspects are still not stable.
In international relations, Vietnam has achieved great successes: normalizing relations with the United States (July 1995), joining ASEAN (July 1995)... contributing to raising Vietnam's position on the international stage.
CONTINUE INNOVATING, IMPLEMENTING INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MODERNIZATION OF THE COUNTRY
The Congress summarized 10 years of comprehensive national reform and 5 years of implementing the Resolution of the 7th National Congress of the Party, setting forth goals, directions, and solutions for accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country; and supplementing and amending the Party Charter.
The Congress assessed the overall picture: The reform process over the past ten years has achieved tremendous and very significant accomplishments. The tasks set by the Seventh Congress have been fundamentally completed. Our country has emerged from the socio-economic crisis, but some aspects are still not stable. The task set for the initial stage of the transition period, which was to prepare the groundwork for industrialization, has been basically completed, allowing us to move to a new period of accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country. The path to socialism in our country is becoming increasingly clearer.
Assessing the characteristics of the global situation, opportunities and challenges, the Congress determined: The goal of industrialization and modernization is to build our country into an industrialized nation with a modern material and technical infrastructure, a rational economic structure, advanced production relations commensurate with the level of development of productive forces, a high standard of living both materially and spiritually, strong national defense and security, a prosperous people, a strong nation, and a just and civilized society.
The Congress established development orientations for key areas: Development and restructuring of the economy towards industrialization and modernization; policies towards economic sectors; continued reform of economic management mechanisms; development of science and technology, education and training; building an advanced culture imbued with national identity; policies to address certain social issues; national defense and security; foreign policy; achieving national unity and promoting the people's role as masters; continuing reform of the state apparatus, building and perfecting the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The Congress also set forth directions and tasks for building the Party to meet the demands of the new era. These include: maintaining and strengthening the working-class nature of the Party; enhancing the political acumen, qualities, and capabilities of cadres and Party members; consolidating the Party's organization and strictly implementing the principle of democratic centralism; focusing on building a strong cadre; improving the fighting capacity of grassroots Party organizations; continuing to innovate the Party's leadership methods; and reforming the Party's inspection and disciplinary work.
The Congress elected a Central Committee of 170 members. Comrade Do Muoi was re-elected as General Secretary of the Party. Comrades Nguyen Van Linh, Pham Van Dong, and Vo Chi Cong were elected as Advisors to the Central Committee.
At its fourth conference in December 1997, the Central Committee approved Comrade Do Muoi's proposal to relinquish his position as General Secretary and elected Comrade Le Kha Phieu as the new General Secretary of the Party. The Central Committee also honored Comrades Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh, and Vo Van Kiet as Advisors to the Central Committee of the Party.
DOMESTIC EVENTS
- February 14, 1996: The Vietnam-China railway line reopened.
- April 20, 1996: General Tran Van Tra passed away.
- April 26, 1996: Vietnam issued its first international credit card.
- August 15, 1996: Construction begins on the Lang-Hoa Lac expressway.
- September 24, 1996: Vietnam signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) with the United States.
- October 31, 1996: The first Ho Chi Minh Prize was awarded to 77 outstanding works, groups of works, and groups of works in science and technology, literature and art.
- November 12, 1996: The Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam was passed at the 10th session of the 9th National Assembly (replacing the 1987 Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam; the 1990 and 1992 amendments).
- November 28, 1996: The State Securities Commission was established.
- December 24, 1996: Lawyer and Chairman Nguyen Huu Tho passed away.
- December 27, 1996: Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi, was inaugurated (the market was destroyed by fire in 1994 and rebuilt on its original site).
INTERNATIONAL EVENT
- January 20, 1996: The first general election elected Yasser Arafat as the first President of Palestine.
- January 26, 1996: The U.S. Senate ratified the START-2 Treaty on the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia.
- February 1, 1996: French President Jacques Chirac announced the end of nuclear testing.
- April 24, 1996: Russian President Boris Yeltsin met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing, ushering in a new era of relations between the two countries.
- May 29, 1996: Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the left-wing Likud party, was elected Prime Minister of Israel.
- On July 3, 1996: Boris Yeltsin defeated Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov to win his second term as President of Russia.
- September 10, 1996: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
- November 5, 1996: Incumbent US President Bill Clinton was re-elected.
- December 9, 1996: The United Nations began authorizing the "oil-for-food" program in Iraq.
- December 17, 1996: The United Nations General Assembly elected Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
