The General Secretary attended and gave a speech directing the 7th National Congress of the Vietnam Veterans Association.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended and participated in the Congress Presidium.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other Party and State leaders and delegates attended the opening ceremony. Photo: Trong Duc/VNA

Also attending were many leaders and former leaders of the Party, State, and Vietnam Fatherland Front; representatives of ministries, departments, branches, and central organizations; leaders and former leaders of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, the General Department of Politics, the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army; representatives of general departments, military regions, military services, academies, schools, and a number of agencies and units under the Ministry of National Defense...

Also attending the Congress were revolutionary veterans, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces; Labor Heroes in the renovation period, and 506 delegates representing more than 3 million members nationwide.

Delegations from the Lao National Veterans Association and the Cambodian Veterans Association attended and congratulated the Congress.

Promoting the tradition of the heroic Vietnam People's Army

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Duoc - President of the Vietnam Veterans Association, term VI, delivered the opening speech, affirming: During the 2017 - 2022 term, the Vietnam Veterans Association has made steady progress in both quantity and quality; operating in accordance with its functions and tasks. The vast majority of veterans have maintained and promoted the nature and tradition of "Uncle Ho's soldiers"; actively fought against erroneous and hostile viewpoints, protected the Party's ideological foundation; fought against corruption, negativity, crime and social evils.

Congress scene. Photo: Trong Duc/VNA

The Association has successfully completed its tasks of participating in building and protecting the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime, contributing to maintaining political stability at the grassroots level; actively helping each other to eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, and improve the lives of its members; and well performing its function of representing the will, aspirations, and legitimate and legal rights of veterans.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Duoc affirmed that the results achieved in the past term have contributed to the successful implementation of the Resolutions of the 12th and 13th National Party Congresses; continuing to affirm that the Vietnam Veterans Association is a prestigious socio-political organization, an active member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, a reliable support of the Party, State and People.

The draft Political Report at the Congress clearly stated the results of the Association's work in the period of 2017 - 2022, in which, the highlight is the effective implementation of the movement "Veterans help each other reduce poverty, do good business", improve living standards; actively participate in socio-economic development programs of the locality and the whole country. The Association currently has 8,652 enterprises, 1,752 cooperatives, 3,677 cooperative groups... Every year, tens of thousands of veteran members achieve the title of "Good production and business" at all levels. 63/63 provinces and cities have established Veteran Entrepreneurs Associations and Veteran Entrepreneurs Clubs.

The draft Political Report has set out the general goals of the term with 6 main targets, notably developing more than 85% of eligible subjects to join the Association; striving to reduce the rate of poor veteran households by 1 - 1.5% each year according to multidimensional standards; striving for 95% of veterans of working age and in good health to be consulted, guided, assisted, nurtured or trained in a profession to have the opportunity to find a job.

In addition to the solutions, the draft Report clearly states two breakthroughs for the Association at all levels to comprehensively carry out its tasks, including: Building a politically and ideologically strong Association; Building a strong grassroots organization of the Association and a team of exemplary and typical Association officials at all levels.

New development step, stronger and more stable

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivers a speech at the Congress. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed, congratulated and thanked the Vietnam Veterans Association and all veterans and former soldiers nationwide for their valuable results and achievements contributing to the cause of national construction and defense.

Agreeing with the Political Report at the Congress, demonstrating the spirit of innovation, intelligence, democracy, solidarity, and seriously grasping the guiding ideology of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the resolutions of the Central Executive Committee, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that the Party, State and people completely trust and place their faith in the "Loyalty - Solidarity - Exemplary - Innovation" of the Veterans Association at all levels with the goals, targets, tasks and operational solutions of the Association set out in the new term.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that, with the spirit of being an organization of people with the traditional nature of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", the Veterans Association at all levels needs to continue to thoroughly grasp and organize cadres and members to well carry out the Association's top important political tasks: Resolutely protect the achievements of the revolution, contribute to defeating all plots and tricks of "peaceful evolution" and "depoliticization of the army" of hostile forces; be an active political force, taking the lead in participating in building and protecting the Party, protecting the State, the people and the socialist regime; strengthen political and ideological education, helping cadres and members grasp the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, have a firm political stance, be steadfast in the goals and ideals of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought, and be exemplary in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and lifestyle. The Associations at all levels need to regularly collect and reflect to Party committees and authorities the opinions of veterans and people on socio-economic development policies, national defense and security assurance, etc.; be the core in implementing the democratic regulations at the grassroots level; rely on the people, be sensitive to detect problems or newly arising issues to promptly advise Party committees and local authorities, overcome problems that cause frustration among the people, maintain political security, order and social safety.

In particular, the Association needs to actively participate in the fight against corruption and negativity with the motto of combining "building" and "fighting", taking building as the main thing and prevention as the foundation, overcoming bad habits and vices in the Party and the State apparatus; at the same time, be vigilant, not allowing bad elements and enemies to take advantage of causing internal disunity, slander, defame, attack, and sabotage the Party, the State and the revolutionary cause of our people.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong hopes that Veterans Associations at all levels need to make the most of all resources and preferential policies of the State for veterans; coordinate and integrate programs and campaigns among veterans effectively; promote and improve the quality of the movement "Veterans help each other reduce poverty and do good business".

The Association at all levels should pay more attention to difficult areas, remote areas, and revolutionary bases; encourage and motivate veteran units and individuals to actively participate in production and business, and strive to get rich legally; attach importance to replicating advanced models and typical examples; promote the tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source" to make the work of gratitude, charity work, and helping compatriots and comrades in difficulty become a widespread movement, a beautiful "Uncle Ho's Army" of Vietnamese veterans.

Implementing Uncle Ho's teaching "Educating the next generation of revolutionaries is a very important and necessary task", General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that all levels of the association and veteran members need to continue to promote their roles and responsibilities in educating about traditions and revolutionary heroism, imparting experiences to the younger generation; accompanying young people in the movement to establish themselves and their careers, promoting the pioneering and creative role of young people in the cause of industrialization, modernization, building and defending the Fatherland, considering it a glorious task and the responsibility and affection of the Association towards young people, the future owners of the country.

Veterans Associations at all levels need to be more active and proactive in coordinating with the Youth Union, local military agencies, and relevant sectors to gather and encourage brothers and sisters to participate in activities in veteran clubs at the grassroots level, actively implement socio-economic development programs, build and strengthen national defense, security and other movements in the locality, thereby training and creating additional sources of cadres for the Association, the Party and the State.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted that it is necessary to pay attention to building the Vietnam Veterans Association to be clean and strong in terms of politics, ideology and organization; to strongly innovate the methods and contents of activities so that the Association can well perform its functions and tasks, ensuring that they are suitable to the target, focusing on the grassroots, emphasizing quality and efficiency; and to avoid ostentation and formality. In particular, it is necessary to focus on developing and consolidating the Association's organization, especially in mountainous areas, remote areas, border areas, islands, in administrative agencies, unions and enterprises; to focus on synchronously implementing measures to improve the quality of the Association's staff at all levels, with adequate qualities, capacity and intelligence, and strong political will; to actively participate in building the Party, the State and the political system to be increasingly clean and strong, closely attached to the people, and to consolidate the people's trust in the Party and the State.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong requested that Party committees from the central to grassroots levels strengthen leadership, direction, and orientation of activities for veterans' associations at all levels; have mechanisms and create favorable conditions for associations at all levels to participate in building and supervising the implementation of Party resolutions and State policies and laws.

With the tradition of "Loyalty - Solidarity - Exemplary - Innovation", the heroic tradition of the Vietnam People's Army and the glorious history of the Vietnam Veterans Association, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong believes that after this Congress, the Vietnam Veterans Association will have a new step of development, becoming stronger and more solid, together with the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, building a "prosperous, democratic, equitable and civilized" Vietnam, firmly advancing towards socialism.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc presents the First Class Labor Medal to the Vietnam Veterans Association. Photo: Trong Duc/VNA

On this occasion, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc awarded the First Class Labor Medal to the Vietnam Veterans Association for its outstanding achievements in work and active participation in emulation movements and socio-economic development programs from 2019 to 2021; contributing to the cause of building socialism and defending the Fatherland.