Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang: A son with a heavy heart for his homeland

(Baonghean.vn) - Born in the land of Phuong Thanh Chuong with a rich tradition of learning, Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang not only became famous in his studies and scientific research, but on every journey he took, there was the image of his homeland with his concerns and yearnings.

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The son of Phuong

Thanh Giang and Thanh Chuong people still tell each other: "Thanh Giang commune's knees are on Ha hill; its body leans on Phuong hill; its legs stretch out to Tram hill; its eyes look to the North - where Lam river flows day and night" to talk about the terrain of the ancient land also known as Phuong land, which is famous for its tradition of mandarin exams and patriotism.

The names of the land, the mountains, and the villages all remind us of the admirable and proud historical vestiges of the people here. That is Binh Ngo hamlet, associated with the name of Binh Ngo citadel, which was built by Le Loi during the Lam Son uprising against the Ming invaders in the 15th century.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France to Vietnam Berthand Lortholary who visited and worked with the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. Photo: hcma.vn

In Thanh Giang, there is also Ba Nghe hamlet, where there is a boat dock of the same name, the place where three doctors Nguyen Tien Tai (passed the exam in 1664), Pham Kinh Vy (passed the exam in 1724) and Nguyen Lam Thai (passed the exam in 1739) all sailed back to their hometown to pay their respects to their ancestors after passing the exam.

Thanh Giang today, Phuong in the past is also the homeland of Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang. Coming from a poor but studious countryside, Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang constantly cultivated his determination, perseverance, and tireless will to strive on the path of learning and scientific research.

In 1974, he was admitted to Hanoi University, majoring in Political Economics. From 1980 to 1981, he was a researcher at the Institute of Economics, Vietnam Social Sciences Committee. After 3 years of military service, Professor Thang returned to work as a researcher at the World Economics Department. He then worked as a research fellow at the MEMO Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, from 1988 to 1993, and continued to work as a scientific collaborator for the institute until 1995.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang held the positions of Head of Department, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Director and Director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (now Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) after returning to work in Vietnam in 1995 until he was appointed Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics on April 22, 2016.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang attended Vietnam Book Day at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. Photo: hcma.vn

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang focuses on three main research directions: world economy and international economic relations, Vietnamese economy, and international economic integration.

He has participated in and chaired many important projects and scientific research topics at the State and ministerial levels such as: The impact of globalization and international economic integration on the industrialization and modernization process of Vietnam; Choosing policies to develop Vietnam's services in the context of international economic integration; The transition to a green economy: Korea's experience and some suggestions for Vietnam...

Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang is also the author and editor of many published works such as: Economy of major industrialized countries after World War II; Some major development trends of the current world economy; Adjustment of economic cooperation strategies of the Asia-Pacific region in the new context; Development gap and economic security in ASEAN; Economic globalization and international economic integration for the industrialization and modernization process in Vietnam...

Heavy heart for homeland

Although working in Hanoi, he always follows the steps and developments of his hometown. And with his knowledge and prestige, the professor always helps Nghe An as much as possible.

I still remember watching the program “Policy Dialogue” broadcast on VTV1 with the participation of guests including the Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee (at that time Mr. Ho Duc Phoc) along with Chairman of the People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong and Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang (at that time also the President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences).

The program was implemented in early January 2014 with the content of discussing solutions to implement Resolution 26 of the Politburo on the direction and tasks of developing Nghe An province until 2020, that is, just over 5 months after the resolution was issued.

From the perspective of a native son, Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang said he was very excited when Nghe An was one of the few localities to which the Politburo issued a separate resolution. “This demonstrates the attention of the Politburo, the Party and the State to the development of Nghe An - a province with a lot of potential; at the same time, a large province and plays a very important role in the socio-economic development of the Central region, first of all, of the North Central region” - the Professor shared.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang speaks at a meeting with leaders of Nghe An province. Photo: Archive

Also in this program, managers and many people of Nghe An were quite impressed by the ideas and suggested solutions to implement the goals of Resolution 26 that Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang discussed.

The professor, originally from Thanh Chuong, believes that in addition to planning, infrastructure, and institutional reform, the province must pay special attention to properly assessing potential to select and position fields, product groups, and development priorities.

“Nghe An cannot develop similar industries to surrounding localities. The problem is to develop fields that can both connect the whole region and promote advantages based on technological changes and ensure the environment,” said Professor Thang.

In order to successfully implement Resolution 26 of the Politburo with Nghe An, Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang - then President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, together with the Institute, visited Nghe An many times to work, organized many seminars, collected opinions from representatives of provincial departments, central ministries, and retired leaders of the Party and State as well as experts and researchers of Vietnam to implement the Project on Building a socio-economic development strategy for Nghe An province in the period of 2015 - 2020, with a vision to 2030.

The scientific council accepted and voted to classify the project as excellent in April 2015. This is also an important source of data to help Nghe An province institutionalize its socio-economic development policies and strategies.

In addition, Professor, Doctor Nguyen Xuan Thang has returned many times with the working delegation of Party and State leaders and has given very important and useful opinions for the development of his homeland./.

Nhat Le