Ho Chi Minh's ideology illuminates the path of national development.
President Ho Chi Minh - the founder and architect of our Party, the great leader of the Vietnamese nation, a national liberation hero, and an outstanding cultural figure. Throughout his life, he dedicated himself to the revolutionary cause of the nation, to the independence of the Fatherland, and to the freedom and happiness of the people.
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President Ho Chi Minh – the founder and architect of our Party, the great leader of the Vietnamese nation, a national liberation hero, and an outstanding cultural figure. Throughout his life, he dedicated himself to the revolutionary cause of the nation, to the independence of the Fatherland, and to the freedom and happiness of the people. “Our nation, our people, our land and country gave birth to President Ho Chi Minh, the great national hero, and it is he who has brought glory to our nation, our people, and our land and country.”[1]That statement is a true reflection of the stature, ideology, legacy, and era of Ho Chi Minh.
The glorious revolutionary history of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and all the great victories of the Vietnamese revolution, are inextricably linked to the name and career of Ho Chi Minh – the man who found the path to national salvation, linking national independence with socialism; who put forward the fundamental tenets of the ruling party, building a clean and strong party; and who ensured that cadres and party members were both leaders and truly loyal servants of the people.
Under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, our people achieved the victory of the August Revolution in 1945, defeating two colonial and imperialist forces in protracted resistance wars, protecting the achievements of the August Revolution, unifying the country, and carrying out the renovation, construction, development, and protection of the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. President Ho Chi Minh laid the foundation for building a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people, and directly led the legislative process; he founded the Vietnam National United Front (the predecessor of the Vietnam Fatherland Front today), gathering and uniting all strata of the people, building and promoting the people's right to self-governance and the strength of national unity.
What remains with the nation today is the glorious revolutionary cause, the comprehensive, profound, and humane system of thought, and the shining example of morality set by President Ho Chi Minh.Ho Chi Minh Thought"It is a comprehensive and profound system of views on the fundamental issues of the Vietnamese revolution, the result of the creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism to the specific conditions of our country, inheriting and developing the fine traditional values of the nation, and absorbing the essence of human culture."[2]
These are the viewpoints on national liberation, class liberation, and human liberation; on national independence linked with socialism, combining national strength with the strength of the times; on building our Party as "moral and civilized," with cadres and Party members "being both leaders and truly loyal servants of the people"; on revolutionary ethics, "diligence, thrift, integrity, righteousness, and selflessness," "sweeping away individualism"; on the people's right to self-governance, "taking the people as the foundation," building a truly people's state, by the people, and for the people; on economic and cultural development, continuously improving the material and spiritual lives of the people, "everyone has food and clothing, everyone has access to education"; on national security and defense, building the people's armed forces; on the strength of the people, of the great national unity, "nothing is stronger than the united force of the people"; on nurturing the next generation of revolutionaries. Regarding a foreign policy of peace, friendship, and cooperation with countries and peoples around the world...
All of his ideas were explained scientifically, dialectically, and creatively on the basis of Marxist-Leninist principles and in accordance with the rich and vibrant reality of the Vietnamese revolution. Throughout his life, wholeheartedly serving the Fatherland, the revolution, and the people, his thoughts permeated every word, action, and the exemplary sacrifices of a great personality. He consistently practiced a system of theoretical viewpoints that reflected the inherent laws of the Vietnamese revolution in a simple, accessible, yet profound way, reflecting the wisdom of a brilliant mind. It is this unity between thought and action that has created the enduring vitality of Ho Chi Minh's thought in the flow of history.
Throughout his life, wholeheartedly dedicated to serving the Fatherland, the revolution, and the people, his thoughts permeated every word and action—a consistent, exemplary act and the noble sacrifice of a great personality. He consistently practiced a system of theoretical viewpoints reflecting the inherent laws of the Vietnamese revolution in a simple, accessible yet profound manner, reflecting the wisdom of a brilliant mind. It is this unity between thought and action that has created the enduring vitality of Ho Chi Minh Thought in the flow of history.
TRINH VAN QUYET, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department.
From the early days of the Party's founding, the first documents of the Communist Party of Vietnam bore the strong imprint of Ho Chi Minh's thought in the Brief Political Program, the Brief Strategy, and the Brief Regulations. For the past 96 years, especially during the 40 years of reform, the Communist Party of Vietnam has consistently upheld the lesson of steadfastly applying and creatively developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in planning and guiding practical actions, creating great, outstanding, comprehensive achievements of historical significance, affirming the foundation, potential, position, and prestige of the country.
From being among the 20 poorest countries in the world, Vietnam's GDP in 2025 is projected to reach over $514 billion, 1.48 times higher than in 2020, ranking 32nd globally. GDP per capita is expected to reach $5,026, placing Vietnam in the upper-middle-income group, a figure highly regarded by many prestigious international organizations. The size of the economy and per capita income are projected to nearly double, reaching over $510 billion and over $5,000 per person, respectively.
Significant progress has been made in cultural and social fields, and people's lives have improved fundamentally and comprehensively. The Human Development Index (HDI) reached 0.766 points, placing Vietnam in the group of countries with high human development. The Happiness Index in 2025 is ranked 46th out of 143 countries, an increase of 33 places compared to 2021. National defense, security, order, and social safety are ensured, and the potential of the all-people national defense system has been built quite comprehensively. Vietnam has proactively and actively promoted foreign relations and increasingly deep and comprehensive international integration; actively participating in the efforts of the international community in resolving global issues, being a reputable and responsible member, and playing an active role in regional and international institutions. The leadership role and prestige of the Party continue to be enhanced, consolidating the people's trust in the Party, the State, and the socialist system.
From being among the 20 poorest countries in the world, Vietnam's GDP in 2025 is projected to reach over $514 billion, 1.48 times higher than in 2020, ranking 32nd globally. GDP per capita is expected to reach $5,026, placing Vietnam in the upper-middle-income group, a figure highly regarded by many prestigious international organizations. The size of the economy and per capita income are projected to nearly double, reaching over $510 billion and over $5,000 per person, respectively.
Program for building the country during the transitional period to socialism.It has been affirmed: "The Party takes Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought as its ideological foundation and guiding principle for action," and Ho Chi Minh Thought "is an immensely great and precious spiritual asset of our Party and nation, forever illuminating the path for our people's revolutionary cause to achieve victory."[3]
The study, research, application, and development of Ho Chi Minh Thought has always been identified by our Party as a top priority in Party building work, playing both a foundational and crucial role. It serves as the basis for enhancing political acumen, theoretical thinking capacity, summarizing abilities, and leadership skills to effectively address practical issues, combat and prevent the decline in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, and address manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party. It also strengthens the fight against corruption, waste, and negative phenomena, builds a clean, strong, and comprehensive Party and political system, and contributes to building the foundation and spiritual strength of society in striving to achieve national development goals.
In implementing Directive No. 05-CT/TW dated May 15, 2016, of the XII Politburo "On promoting the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style" and Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW dated May 18, 2021, of the XIII Politburo, Party committees and organizations at all levels have seriously and effectively implemented the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style. Party committees at all levels have based their actions on the actual situation of each locality, agency, and unit, incorporating the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style into their annual action programs, resolutions, and plans, closely linking them with political tasks, emulation movements, and campaigns; focusing on Party building and rectification, the political system, breakthroughs in socio-economic development, and addressing key and pressing issues of reality. The Politburo and the Secretariat have incorporated the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, and style into the content of annual and term-long inspections and supervision of Party committees and organizations at all levels. The dissemination of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, and style has been emphasized, with many diverse forms. The awards for creating and promoting literary, artistic, and journalistic works on the theme of "Studying and Emulating Ho Chi Minh's Ideology, Ethics, and Style," directed by the Secretariat, are increasingly in-depth, attracting active participation from artists, intellectuals, and all strata of the population.
The "Ho Chi Minh Cultural Space" model, an initiative of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, is being replicated in many provinces and cities and is gradually being implemented abroad, contributing to bringing the ideological, moral, and stylistic values of President Ho Chi Minh closer to cadres, Party members, and the people. Many agencies and units have eliminated cumbersome administrative procedures, supplemented and developed working regulations and codes of conduct based on Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, and style, reformed working styles, focused on being close to the people, listening to and engaging in dialogue with the people. Promoting the exemplary responsibility of cadres and Party members, especially leaders, coupled with the implementation of revolutionary and public service ethics standards, has created positive changes in the awareness, working methods, and discipline of the cadre, civil servant, and public employee workforce. From these changes, the people's trust in the Party and the State continues to be strengthened.
The 14th National Congress of the Party affirmed the aspiration to build a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, civilized, and happy Vietnam, steadily advancing towards socialism. In the context of the country entering a new era with increasingly high demands on the quality of growth, governance capacity, and national competitiveness, the study and practice of Ho Chi Minh's thought, ethics, methods, and style must become more profound, substantive, and effective, truly serving as an internal resource to encourage the entire Party, people, and army to maximize the spirit of "strategic autonomy, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-strength, and national pride," and successfully implement the Resolution of the 14th Party Congress. This requires a strong transformation in awareness and action within the Party, the political system, and the people, thoroughly understanding and implementing the study and practice of Ho Chi Minh's thought, ethics, methods, and style in the spirit of action.Speak less, do more.ButSee it through to the end - achieve results."...maintaining the 'four steadfast principles,' promoting strategic autonomy, establishing a new development model, using development for stability, and stability to promote rapid and sustainable development, improving the lives and happiness of the people, and firmly protecting the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam."
The 14th National Congress of the Party affirmed the aspiration to build a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, civilized, and happy Vietnam, steadily advancing towards socialism. In the context of the country entering a new era with increasingly high demands for growth quality, governance capacity, and national competitiveness, the study and practice of Ho Chi Minh's thought, ethics, methods, and style must become even more profound, substantive, and effective.
Firmly adhering to the Party's principled guiding viewpoints, Ho Chi Minh Thought serves as the ideological foundation and compass for the Party's actions, constantly supplementing and perfecting it to suit practical realities. This is the spirit of "Maintain constancy while adapting to change."As He once advised. Steadfastness means upholding the roots and foundation, but this does not mean being conservative, rigid, mechanical, or dogmatic. Rather, it means upholding core values that have been proven correct by practice. We shouldn't mechanically quote His words, but rather grasp the "spirit," the "essence" of His methodology. We need to summarize practical experiences, valuing the lessons learned from successful models and innovative approaches among the people, elevating them to the level of theory."
We must creatively apply Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, methods, and style through practical actions, focusing on removing bottlenecks to build development, upholding and promoting the spirit of continuous innovation in thinking, especially strategic thinking; being consistent and steadfast in strategy, flexible and adaptable in tactics, closely adhering to reality, and strongly innovating the methods of national governance; transforming these values into guiding principles to orient all decisions and practical actions. We must use the principle of "the people as the foundation" to transform thought into action; always asking: "Does this benefit the people? Does it harm the interests of the people?" and "How can we benefit the people?". We must always practice "saying and doing," "doing things to the end," "doing things with concrete results," and resolutely combating the situation of "thinking one thing and doing another," "doing things just for the sake of doing them," and "doing things halfway." It is essential to deeply internalize and correctly understand Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, methods, and style in order to create a fundamental shift in action, so that the study and practice of Ho Chi Minh's thought, ethics, methods, and style become a self-driven need, a driving force for innovation, and a foundation for development.
At the same time, emphasis should be placed on practicing "self-reflection and self-correction" regularly, seriously, and with a constructive attitude in building a team of cadres and Party members who are truly exemplary in political acumen, character, competence, and prestige, thereby enhancing the Party's leadership, governance, and fighting capacity, as well as the State's management, administration, and development capabilities. "It is illogical to want to defeat the enemy if one cannot overcome one's own shortcomings; it is absurd to want to reform society if one cannot reform oneself."[4]It is necessary to "self-reflect and self-correct" from policies, guidelines, and resolutions to practical actions. In the new era of global integration and the nation's aspiration for self-improvement, "self-reflect and self-correct" must be implemented, viewed, and evaluated objectively and transparently, with the satisfaction of the people and businesses, concrete results, and real-time data as the highest measure.
We must act decisively and scientifically; resolutely correct ingrained thinking, eliminate outdated mindsets and fear of making mistakes, and shift to a modern governance model linked to innovation, self-training, skill improvement, continuous learning and access to new knowledge in governance, digital economy, and digital society; and perfect the institutional framework to enable citizens to participate in social monitoring and criticism.
It can be said that the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh is a beautiful symbol of unwavering yet creative spirit; upholding principles without dogmatism or rigidity; always starting from reality and aiming for the happiness of the people. This is the enduring value, the immense source of spiritual strength that instills faith and will in the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army on the journey of national development. Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, methods, and style will forever be the solid ideological foundation and the source of internal strength for the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army to overcome all difficulties and challenges, and to steadily advance in the new era – an era of prosperous, civilized, thriving, and powerful development.
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[1] Communist Party of Vietnam:Party documents complete works, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 2004, Vol. 30, p. 275.
[2] Communist Party of Vietnam:Party documents complete works, National Political Publishing House - Truth, Hanoi 2016, Vol. 60, p. 130.
[3] Communist Party of Vietnam:Party Congress documents during the reform period, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 2019, Vol. 2, pp. 514-515.
[4] Ho Chi Minh:Complete Collection, National Political Publishing House - Truth, Hanoi 2011, Vol. 7, p. 82.
