Full text of speech by General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong at the opening of the 10th Central Conference

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong chaired and delivered the opening speech at the Conference.

Dear Central Committee comrades,

Dear Conference attendees,

According to the program approved by the Central Committee, the 10th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee will discuss the following contents: Outline of documents to be submitted to the 13th National Party Congress; preparation for directing the conduct of Party congresses at all levels towards the 13th National Party Congress; and a number of other important issues.

First of all, on behalf of the Politburo and the Secretariat, I would like to warmly welcome you to the 10th Conference of the Party Central Committee. I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your warm and friendly feelings and for always supporting the Politburo and the Secretariat to successfully carry out their tasks in the past time.

Panorama of the opening ceremony of the Conference. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA

Regarding the agenda and content of this meeting, you have just heard the Politburo report and it has been stated quite fully in the submissions and reports of the Politburo, I will not repeat it. Next, I would like to express some suggestive opinions, raising issues for you to consider during the process of research, discussion and giving opinions.

1. On preparing outlines of documents to be submitted to the 13th National Party Congress

According to the Central Committee's decision, we have established subcommittees to prepare documents. Speaking of documents means speaking generally, there are many documents. The central document is the Political Report. Along with the Political Report, there will be a Report summarizing 10 years of implementing the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) and a review of 30 years (1991 - 2021) of implementing the Platform, to serve as a foundation, to have a comprehensive and overall perspective for us to orientate the discussion on upcoming strategies and tasks to effectively implement the Platform. The Central Committee has decided not to raise the issue of amending the Platform. I make that clear.

Delegates attending the 10th Central Conference. Photo: VNA.

Saying that the Political Report is the center does not mean that there is only the Political Report. The Political Report comprehensively presents all issues in all fields, providing a policy and political orientation for the upcoming implementation of work. Along with the Political Report, there is the Platform Summary Report; there are two important thematic reports. One is the Report on socio-economics.

This time in particular, we are summarizing the implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy from 2011 to 2020 to serve as a basis for building the Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the next 10 years. The economy is the center, and for a long time there has been a Socio-Economic Report, but it is a Thematic Report, which does not coincide with the Political Report, it must be more specific. The second very important Thematic Report is the Summary Report on Party building work and the implementation of the Party Charter, to consider whether it is necessary to amend the Party Charter at the upcoming Congress or not? If there is an amendment, we must summarize it.

But the Socio-Economic Report is the center, Party building is the key, these are also 2 specialized reports that delve into 2 difficult, complicated and especially important areas. The content of these Reports must not contradict the Political Report, must follow the Political Report, but must not repeat the Political Report in a general way, if possible be more specific.

In short, the documents presented to the 13th Congress are very important, of which the Political Report is the center. Therefore, the Central Committee has decided to establish subcommittees, not just one subcommittee, namely the Documents Subcommittee, the Socio-Economics Subcommittee, and the Party Charter Subcommittee. The Documents Subcommittee is responsible for summarizing 10 years of implementing the Platform. The Socio-Economics Subcommittee is responsible for both making economic reports to serve the Political Report and mainly focusing on summarizing the implementation of the socio-economic strategy over the past 10 years and building a strategy for the next 10 years.

Thus, the 13th Congress is not just until 2026 (2021-2026 period) but must have a longer strategic vision, looking back at the past and looking towards the future. The Politburo has set the milestones as 2026 is the end of the 13th Congress term, 2030 is the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding, and 2045 is the 100th anniversary of the country's founding. So how do we orient and visualize our country in 2030? What will our country be like in 2045? These are very big and extremely difficult issues.

Recently, at the Politburo meeting and the key leaders' meeting, I said: All localities must follow this approach, not only focusing on preparing personnel but also focusing on building congress documents. The report presented to the Congress is not like the annual performance report, but must also analyze the current and upcoming process of the locality and unit, and imagine what our locality will be like in 2030 and what it will be like in 2045. This is a very difficult and not easy task, so you comrades must study and prepare very carefully.

So, this time compared to the last time, the difference is that we not only look at the immediate future but also look at the long term, looking back to the past to summarize the whole process. I will only give one example: What is the transition period? What are political innovation and economic innovation? Is political innovation the innovation of the political regime? Political innovation is the innovation of the political system, organizational apparatus, human resources, methods, working style... understand those things correctly.

Or now let's talk about market economy and socialist orientation; has the market economy developed well in the past? Does it ensure socialist orientation? Is it leaning in any direction? What are the economic components and ownership regimes like? What is our ownership regime like now? Public, private, mixed... The economic components include state, collective, private, mixed ownership, and foreign investment. We keep attracting a lot of foreign investment, signing a lot of contracts, which is very welcome, but how will we manage this investment? Is it dependent on others? Can we maintain independence and autonomy? Meanwhile, the requirement is economic integration but must be independent and autonomous.

Now the private economy is developing very well. Yesterday I said: Don't discriminate against the private economy, be fair, I suggest that in the future, wherever there is good performance, we should commend, reward, and even give the title of hero to private enterprises. No discrimination, but at the same time, whoever makes a mistake, we should ask them to correct it. The same goes for the state, not everything in the state is good. The state economy has its good aspects, but recently there have been many losses. But from such losses, is it right to underestimate the state economy and transfer everything to the private sector?... I said, for example, do such issues need to be discussed? This time I said it is strategic.

I said these are extremely important, difficult and complicated issues. At the meeting of the Document Subcommittee, I outlined the 8 most difficult and complicated issues that must be focused on in the near future, not only at the Central level but also at all localities. I have reminded the delegations to survey the places, not just to listen to general reports, but to survey and discuss the issues I have just mentioned above.

For example, what will Ho Chi Minh City be like in 10 years, 15 years? Can you imagine it all? What will Hanoi be like? Just say smart city, green city, so what is the specific connotation, or will our country by 2030 be a developed industrial country or a developed country, or a modern industrial country, what is the connotation? Since 2001, we have determined that by 2020, our country will basically become a modern industrial country, has it become a modern industrial country yet? It is very difficult, comrades, you have to have a very deep understanding of both theory and practice, both domestically and internationally. That is the document, it is not essential to have a report.

I will temporarily mention 8 groups of difficult and complicated issues, there are many other issues, requiring the intelligence of the Central Committee to contribute to the development of documents. Documents are guidelines for doing, not for talking. I will mention some of the key points of this Conference so that we can discuss and debate the outline of the documents very well. From there, we will figure out how to do it, how to divide the work, how to group, how to survey, how to research theory. I also want to emphasize some of these ideas so that comrades can see the position, requirements, and very important nature of the upcoming Congress.

At the Congress, personnel is very important and very difficult, but this content issue is even more important, so that later when the Congress announces it, the people will be excited and trust in the Party's guidelines.

Recently, the Central Committee has established sub-committees, the sub-committees are very active, meeting regularly, and holding many seminars. The Politburo has also listened, the sub-committees have met several times but still feel uneasy, it is only the first step, but this is a very important first step. This time, the Central Committee discussed thoroughly, agreed on the direction, then the brothers will work smoothly, which is very good. Our Central Committee conference focused on giving opinions on the ideas, topics, titles, and outline structure, not going into depth on the content.

This time, for the Central Committee, I suggest that we should also innovate, be truly open-minded, and innovate in our approach. When meeting with the veteran comrades, I said: Invite the experienced veteran comrades, the leaders who are old but still have wisdom, to make the most of the wisdom of comrades, intellectuals, and scientists at home and abroad. The other day, the Prime Minister chaired a conference to listen to the comments of a number of experts and scientists. That approach is very good, we should do more of it, divide it into many topics, many special topics, many listeners, and many people to discuss.

The outline of the documents presented at this Conference only sets out the orientation, is open in nature with many different options for the Central Committee to discuss, give direction, and choose one step, then continue to research and prepare according to the process, through the steps of contribution at the Party Congresses at all levels and collecting public opinions, and finally the Central Committee will decide to submit to the National Congress of Delegates. Regarding the structure of the reports, it needs to be decided early at this Conference in order to complete the draft Outline and compile detailed content. The writing style should also be innovated to be vivid, concise, simple, easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to implement.

2. On the orientation of preparing for party congresses at all levels towards the 13th National Congress of the Party

In order to unify leadership and direction in the preparation and conduct of Party Congresses at all levels, leading up to the 13th National Congress of the Party, the Politburo needs to issue a Directive on this issue. This is an extremely important task, ensuring the success of Party Congresses at all levels and contributing to the success of the 13th National Congress of the Party, so it needs the opinions of Central Committee comrades.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and other Party and State leaders at the opening session. Photo: VNA.

Recently, the Politburo has directed the summary of the implementation of Directive No. 36 of the 11th Politburo on this issue; affirmed that the results and lessons learned need to be inherited and promoted; at the same time, pointed out the limitations and shortcomings that need to be learned from and promptly adjusted; clearly identified practical issues that have arisen but have not been regulated and need to be supplemented. On that basis, a new draft Directive was drafted and submitted to the Central Executive Committee for comments to complete before promulgation.

I request that comrades pay attention to discussing in detail the Submission and the draft Directive, focusing on clarifying the purpose, requirements, and content of Party Congresses at all levels and the work of preparing personnel and electing Party Committees, especially the requirements on qualities, capacities, structures, and numbers of Party Committees at all levels; the proportion of young cadres, female cadres, and ethnic minority cadres; the age of participation in Party Committees of provinces and centrally run cities, and on Party Committee elections...

Dear comrades,

The content of the Central Conference's agenda is very important for the completion of the political tasks of the 12th Central Executive Committee in preparing documents for the 13th National Party Congress and directing the preparation of Party Congresses at all levels towards the 13th National Party Congress. Therefore, the Central Committee and comrades attending the Conference are requested to promote their intelligence and sense of responsibility, focus on research, discuss thoroughly, give opinions to complete the reports and projects and consider and decide at the end of the session.

In that spirit, I hereby declare open the 10th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee. I wish the Conference great success.

Thank you very much”./.