General Secretary: Innovate cadre training in a practical and effective direction.

On the morning of December 30th, in Hanoi, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics held a conference to summarize its work in 2025 and plan for 2026. The conference was held in person at the Academy's center, combined with online participation from affiliated academies.

General Secretary To Lam attended and delivered a speech at the conference.

Attending the conference were members of the Politburo: Phan Đình Trạc, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission; Professor, Doctor Nguyễn Xuân Thắng - Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council; and Nguyễn Duy Ngọc, Secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee.

Also attending were former members of the Politburo, former Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Party, members of the Central Committee of the Party, former members of the Central Committee of the Party, alternate members of the Central Committee of the Party, leaders of central departments, ministries, branches, and organizations, leaders and former leaders of the Academy; leaders of units directly under the Academy; all cadres, civil servants, employees, and workers of the Academy system and local political schools...

In his address at the Conference, General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated and respectfully acknowledged the tremendous efforts, high sense of responsibility, persistent dedication, and wholehearted commitment of the entire Academy system in 2025 – a year of special significance in summarizing 40 years of Renovation, preparing for the 14th National Congress of the Party, and shaping the strategic foundations for a new era of national development; emphasizing that it is not only a summary of a year's work, but also an opportunity to review and adjust thinking, prepare intellectually, in terms of personnel and methods of action for the upcoming development path.

Recalling President Ho Chi Minh's admonition: "Training cadres is the fundamental task of the Party," a truth proven throughout the history of the Vietnamese revolution, the General Secretary affirmed that, after 75 years of construction and development, the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy has always deserved to be the Central Party School - a place where the intellect, political acumen, and theoretical essence of our Party are crystallized; and at the same time, a leading center for political theory research in the country, a particularly reliable address in the training and development of cadres, especially strategic-level cadres.

In 2025, amidst rapidly changing and complex global and domestic situations, intertwined with opportunities and challenges, the Academy clearly demonstrated its firm political resolve, strong innovative thinking, and high sense of responsibility to the Party, the people, and the country. Based on the Academy's report and listening to the opinions at the Conference, the General Secretary noted that in 2025, the Academy achieved many important, comprehensive, and outstanding results across all three pillars: theoretical research and practical summation; advising and consulting on the planning and implementation of strategic policies of the Party and the State; and training and developing cadres.

The Academy and the Central Theoretical Council have clearly demonstrated their central and core role in connecting, integrating, and leveraging the strengths of scientists, professors, and theoretical research teams, especially after the restructuring and reorganization of the organizational apparatus according to the Central Committee's policies, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, and efficiency. The serious and decisive implementation of the organizational restructuring and reorganization tasks has expanded the scope for development, elevated the status, restructured the training management model, and gradually shaped a new knowledge ecosystem throughout the Academy system; while simultaneously placing higher demands on the quality of theoretical research and cadre training.

The General Secretary highly appreciated the core, proactive role and high sense of responsibility of the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy and the Central Theoretical Council in participating in the preparation of the 14th National Congress of the Party; notably, their participation as permanent members of the Document Drafting Team and the Document Drafting Team summarizing 40 years of reform. These contributions are of particularly important significance, helping to form draft documents of historical significance – the crystallization of the wisdom, practical experience, and development aspirations of the entire Party, people, and army; and at the same time, shaping strategic thinking and the direction of national development in the new era.

The General Secretary commended the proactive and creative spirit of the lecturers and training management staff in innovating the content and methods of training and fostering, meeting the requirements for enhancing cadre capacity in the context of implementing the two-tiered local government model. The Academy's proactive expansion of training and fostering strategic-level leadership cadres for several communist parties and ruling parties has contributed to deepening the Party's foreign relations activities, demonstrating the responsibility of a leading agency for Party theory and cadre training in the new context.

Expressing strong agreement with the lessons learned presented in the summary report, the General Secretary further emphasized several issues of methodological significance: Firmly adhering to the Party's ideological foundation, remaining loyal to Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, the path to socialism must always be linked to strong innovation in thinking and methods of action. Theory only truly has vitality when nurtured by vibrant practice and, in turn, guides practice, considering practice as an open source of data for summarizing, generalizing, and forecasting. Cadre training only fully realizes its value when it stems from the genuine needs of the Party, the country, and the learners themselves, using the effectiveness of implementation after training as the highest measure. Above all is the preservation, cultivation, and dissemination of the Party School culture – the spiritual foundation distilled from discipline, order, integrity, responsibility, and creativity.

Entering 2026, the tasks set for the Academy are extremely challenging but also very glorious. The entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army are looking forward to the 14th National Congress of the Party with the aspiration to open a new stage of development. In this context, the General Secretary suggested that the Academy should play a core role in implementing the major projects identified by the 15th Central Committee Conference, namely summarizing 100 years of the Party's leadership of the Vietnamese revolution and summarizing 40 years of implementing the 1991 Platform. These are projects of special significance, requiring profound theoretical thinking, interdisciplinary methods, and a long-term vision, truly becoming a source of strategic knowledge, valuable in guiding the awareness and actions of the entire political system for many decades to come.

The General Secretary requested a continued fundamental reform of cadre training and development in a practical, effective, and modern direction, closely linked to the requirements of organizing and implementing the Party's strategic decisions. The goal is not only to equip them with knowledge, but also to form a comprehensive set of modern governance capabilities, from policy design, inter-sectoral coordination, risk management, leading digital transformation to creating social consensus and mobilizing resources.

Training programs need to have the capacity to predict and stay one step ahead of reality; shift strongly from a one-way transmission model to a model where instructors and students co-create new knowledge and values; and ensure that training is not just about "knowing" but about "doing," aiming towards public values ​​and the interests of the people.

The Academy needs to systematically and selectively promote digital transformation and the application of artificial intelligence; applying technology not to replace human intelligence, but to improve productivity and quality, unleash creative potential, enhance analytical and predictive capabilities, and support decision-making; while simultaneously innovating internal governance towards transparency, modernity, and efficiency. Alongside this, special emphasis must be placed on academic integrity, upholding Party principles, scientific rigor, and practical relevance in all its outputs.

The General Secretary noted that special attention should be paid to the system of political schools nationwide, considering them the foundation of cadre training and development at the grassroots level; strengthening linkages and sharing of training programs, methods, and digital infrastructure; improving the quality of lecturers, and connecting training with local realities and modern governance requirements.

The Academy promotes international cooperation in a practical, effective, and focused manner; fosters academic diplomacy, enhances the Academy's academic standing and the prestige of our Party in the international arena; and considers theoretical exchanges and high-level leadership training with a number of communist parties and ruling parties as an important pillar of the Party's foreign policy.

The Academy prioritizes the identification and nurturing of young cadres, young experts, and talented individuals. This is a long-term strategic issue that requires the development of appropriate mechanisms for attracting, training, utilizing, and rewarding them; creating a healthy academic environment, encouraging creativity, forming strong research groups, and providing opportunities for young people to be trained, challenged, and grow.

In light of the demands and aspirations of the new era, the General Secretary expressed confidence that the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy will continue to uphold its glorious traditions, collective intelligence, and spirit of innovation, successfully fulfilling the mission entrusted by the Party, the State, and the people, and making a worthy contribution to the cause of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam presented the First-Class Labor Order to the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy for its outstanding achievements in implementing Resolution 18-NQ/TW on some issues concerning the continued reform and restructuring of the political system's organizational apparatus to be streamlined, effective, and efficient.

According to VNA