Those are the final lines in President Ho Chi Minh's article "Health and Physical Training" published in Cuu Quoc newspaper exactly 80 years ago, March 27, 1946. The article is short, only a few hundred words with a simple writing style, but the content of the article has become orientations for the Sports and Physical Training industry and for the entire Vietnamese people in the cause of building and developing the country in general as well as developing the Sports and Physical Training industry in particular.
In the article, He affirmed: "Preserving democracy, building the country, building a new life, everything needs health to succeed" and "each healthy citizen means contributing to the whole country's health".
In the early years after the August Revolution, the "health for the country" movement spread throughout localities. Morning exercise, physical training, organizing simple competitions... became familiar activities in people's lives.
In the resistance war, sports were inseparable from the task of protecting the Fatherland. Physical exercises, marching, endurance training... were the foundation to help our army and people overcome harsh conditions.
Entering a peaceful period, especially since Doi Moi, Vietnamese Physical Education and Sports have undergone strong transformation. From being a movement, sports have gradually been organized more methodically and professionally.
The national competition system has been formed; athlete training centers have been invested in; many key sports have been focused on development. Vietnam not only participates but also gradually affirms its position in regional and international arenas such as SEA Games, ASIAD, and Olympics.
The medals of top sports are not only sports achievements, but also symbols of the will, determination and aspiration to rise up of the Vietnamese people.
It can be said that many images of Vietnamese Sports make a strong impression, creating levels of proud emotions, not just images honoring individuals who achieve high achievements but also containing the pride of the whole country. Those are images of little girl Nguyen Thuy Hien bringing home the World Gold Medal in wushu nearly 30 years ago; images of martial artist Tran Hieu Ngan sobbing when becoming the first Vietnamese athlete to win an Olympic medal in Sydney 2000; images of the red flag with a yellow star planted on the white snow of Changzhou (China) of the Vietnam U23 team at the AFC U23 Championship; images of Vietnamese girls playing football in the women's World Cup arena and especially the image of gunman Hoang Xuan Vinh winning the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal - a historic medal of Vietnamese sports...
Hoang Xuan Vinh was also voted as one of the 30 typical individuals and units honored in the program "Vinh Quang Vietnam 2017" with the theme "30 years of Doi Moi" organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and Lao Dong Newspaper.
In the years of implementation, the program "Vinh Quang Vietnam" also honored other outstanding sports faces such as: Footballer Nguyen Quang Hai, Athletics athlete Nguyen Thi Oanh, coach Mai Duc Chung, shooter Trinh Thu Vinh... affirming the role of sports in the process of building and developing the country.
If high-performance sports contribute to building national brands through major international competitions, mass sports create a foundation for physical development and building Vietnamese human values.
Over the past 80 years, it has been increasingly affirmed: Physical development not only serves personal health, but directly contributes to improving the quality of human resources. A healthy workforce will have higher productivity, better adaptability, and more endurance in an increasingly competitive environment.
In the context of Vietnam setting high growth targets, transforming development models, improving labor productivity and human resource quality, the fitness of Vietnamese people has become a key factor. Reality shows that, despite many improvements, the fitness of Vietnamese people is still far from many developed countries. Height, endurance, overall fitness... are still indicators that need to be further improved.
Therefore, the development of physical education and sports is not only the task of the sports industry, but also a long-term strategic human development policy.
From President Ho Chi Minh's point of view, our Party and State always pay attention and closely direct the country's sports and physical training career with many important policies on sports and physical training. On December 3, 2010, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 2198/QD-TTg approving the Strategy for Development of Vietnamese Physical Education and Sports to 2020, with the important goal of building and developing the country's sports and physical training to improve people's health, improve the quality of human resources serving the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country, and increase the life expectancy of Vietnamese people...
Following that, on December 1, 2011, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW on "Strengthening the Party's leadership, creating a strong development step in physical education and sports to 2020", further affirming: Developing physical education and sports is an objective requirement of society, a responsibility of Party committees, authorities and people at all levels; contributing to improving the quality of life of the people; educating will, morality, building a healthy lifestyle and cultural environment; consolidating the great national unity bloc; expanding friendly relations and international cooperation. On January 31, 2024, the Politburo issued Conclusion No. 70-KL/TW on developing physical education and sports in the new period, which set out the requirement to improve health and build a harmonious Vietnamese people.
In 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Directive No. 354/CT-BVHTTDL on promoting the Campaign "All people practice physical exercise following the example of the great Uncle Ho" for the period 2021 - 2030. This Directive sets requirements for improving people's physical health by solutions: "Promoting sports activities at the grassroots level, focusing on rural areas, mountainous areas, remote areas, border areas, islands, industrial parks, export processing zones; mobilizing all subjects to participate in regular physical exercise, especially youth, teenagers, workers, civil servants, laborers, the elderly, people with disabilities; combining the development of modern sports with the exploitation, preservation, and development of national sports, folk sports games. Maintaining, expanding, and diversifying types of sports activities, strengthening the establishment of grassroots sports clubs, sports groups, teams, and groups operating in residential areas.
Improve the quality of physical education and sports activities in schools, ensuring that the program content is suitable for each level of education, age group, facility conditions, facilities, and sports equipment. Develop sports teams and sports clubs in schools, creating conditions for students to participate in regular extracurricular sports training.
Strengthen investment in new construction, renovation, and upgrading of cultural and sports facilities at the grassroots level in communes, wards, special zones, villages, hamlets, residential groups, clusters, residential points, agencies, units, and schools from the State budget integrated with the implementation of national target programs on building new rural areas, national target programs on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas and socialization sources from organizations and individuals.
Improve management capacity, organize sports activities, strengthen training and professional development for grassroots officials, coaches, instructors, collaborators, and sports staff.
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Not only physically, sports also play a special role in shaping and fostering human character.
Through sports training, people learn discipline, spirit of overcoming difficulties, resilience and team spirit. These values not only exist on the training ground or competition field, but spread into life, work and society.
An athlete must persistently practice for thousands of hours to achieve high results. A football team must coordinate smoothly to win. A person who exercises regularly every day must overcome their own laziness. That is the process of training willpower and becoming the core factor in building Vietnamese people in the new era.
In the context of modern society, when work and life pressures increase, when mental health problems become increasingly obvious, sports become more important as a "medicine" to help balance and improve the quality of life.
The Party and State of Vietnam have repeatedly affirmed: Human development is the goal, and also the driving force of national development. In which, physical development is an important pillar alongside intelligence, ethics and culture.
National sports development strategies all emphasize the goal of improving the stature and physical strength of Vietnamese people; developing mass sports movements; and improving peak sports achievements.
In the education system, physical education is increasingly focused on. Physical training programs, school sports activities, student tournaments... not only aim to improve health, but also contribute to forming a healthy lifestyle for the younger generation.
For workers, sports are also increasingly associated with the working environment. Many businesses organize internal sports activities, build a culture of health training, thereby improving production and business efficiency and collective cohesion.
Implementing Resolution 02 of the Politburo issued on June 12, 2021 on innovating the organization and operation of the Vietnam Trade Union in the new situation, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour has directed trade union levels to take more care of the physical and health of workers and laborers. Many local LDFs have had good and creative ways of doing things for the sports movement for workers. For example, Hai Phong, the City LDF has opened a trade union physical training point in the campus of the Kien An District Gymnasium. This is the first Trade Union Physical Training Point project deployed and put into use by the Hai Phong City LDF. The project was installed in November 2023, completed in December 2023. After a period of pilot operation, to date, every day, the training point attracts more than 200 people to participate in training here, including many union members, workers, people, students.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Bang, a worker at PP Packaging Co., Ltd., said: "The training point is only away from home.
more than 100m, so every afternoon I and my children come here to practice. The equipment is easy to use, suitable for family members. Since having the training area, the spirit of sports has been raised higher, and the mood is also more excited.
According to the Hai Phong City Labor Federation, with the goal of improving the spiritual life of workers, promoting the nationwide movement to practice physical exercise following the example of the great Uncle Ho, in the period 2024 - 2025, the Hai Phong City Labor Federation will deploy 150 trade union physical training points in industrial parks, boarding houses, and sports fields with many workers. Each point is expected to install a fixed sports machine system worth 150 million VND/point. The total investment cost of trade union physical training points is 20 billion VND.
This is a new model in the national Trade Union system. In addition, in 2024, the Hai Phong City Labor Federation researched, built, and implemented many models of health care and physical improvement for union members such as establishing a Union member health recovery center, coordinating the implementation of many sports and physical training tournaments among workers and employees...
At enterprises, typically at LG Display Co., Ltd. (Trang Due Industrial Park), there are currently more than 24,000 workers, including migrant workers and foreign workers. The company's trade union has proposed to the company's leaders to build 2 football fields, 1 gym, 1 sports room, table tennis... attracting thousands of workers to practice every day.
At VLC Group Joint Stock Company, group leaders and leaders of member units have built sufficient facilities to serve employees participating in cultural, artistic, and sports activities. Units have invested in building badminton courts, volleyball courts, aerobic training areas, mid-shift guesthouses for workers, and building canteens to serve workers with breakfast and mid-shift breaks.
Healthy cultural, sports, and entertainment activities help each worker establish a cultural lifestyle, love labor, and have a sense of striving to rise up. Through the system of cultural institutions for workers, it will create conditions for workers to participate in cultural and artistic activities, sports, entertainment, and minimize the risk of getting involved in social evils among workers" - said the company's trade union representative.
Most recently, on March 23, the grassroots Trade Union of Saitex International Dong Nai Co., Ltd. (Amata Industrial Park, Long Binh Ward, Dong Nai Province) in coordination with the Company's Board of Directors organized the 2026 Mass Sports Festival with the participation of more than 1,000 athletes representing more than 3,000 union members and employees of the company. This activity affirms the care for the physical and health of employees at the enterprise.
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Despite many achievements, sports development in Vietnam still faces many challenges. First of all, there is the disparity between regions. In many rural and mountainous areas, facilities are still limited, making it difficult for people to access sports activities.
The second is the sedentary lifestyle in modern society. The development of technology, office work, and increased time spent using electronic devices... makes many people, especially young people, less active.
Third is uneven awareness. Many people still consider exercise "unnecessary" or only for free people, instead of being an essential need of life. In addition, high-performance sports also face challenges in investment, mechanisms, and increasingly fierce competition on the international stage.
To promote and support the physical education and sports movement, the Ministry of Finance recently announced a draft Circular regulating the management, use, payment and finalization of regular budget expenditures for the State budget to implement the national target program on Cultural Development for the period 2025 - 2035, phase I: From 2025 to 2030. The draft proposes to spend on equipping simple sports equipment in urban areas, residential areas, villages, hamlets, factories, enterprises, schools (residential areas); swimming equipment and teaching tools; materials and programs for teaching safe swimming knowledge and skills, drowning prevention: In case the governments of urban areas, residential areas, villages, hamlets, and schools can arrange space and are not equipped with training equipment, urban areas, residential areas, villages, hamlets, schools are equipped with simple training equipment to serve people and students to practice health. In case factories and enterprises equip training equipment, it is included in the reasonable and valid cost of the unit. The equipment list is decided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The level of support and the number of supported units are decided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and localities according to the current decentralization, within the assigned estimate. The level of support from the central budget is no more than 50,000,000 VND/residential area. The procurement and management of training equipment shall be carried out in accordance with the law on bidding and the law on management and use of public assets.
This is a very new proposal on spending on physical development, stature and life skills for Vietnamese people towards developing Vietnamese people with good personalities and lifestyles.
Entering a new stage of development, with the goal of becoming a high-income developed country by 2045, Vietnam needs a human resource that is not only intelligent but also physically strong.
Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW dated January 7, 2026 of the Politburo on the development of Vietnamese culture and Resolution of the 14th Party Congress recently both emphasized the task of building a comprehensively developed Vietnamese people. The goal by 2030 is that the number of people who regularly exercise reaches more than 45% of the population, and at the same time cover grassroots sports facilities in 100% of villages, communes, and wards.
Sports, therefore, need to be seen as a "soft infrastructure" of development. This is a fundamental factor but has a profound impact.
80 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh began his appeal with a simple proposition: "Each weak citizen means the whole country is weak". Today, in a fiercely competitive world, that proposition becomes more accurate than ever.
A strong country is not only measured by economic scale or military strength, but also by human quality, including health and fitness.
From simple morning exercises, to modern stadiums; from mass movements to top sports; from Uncle Ho's call to national development strategy - all create an 80-year journey of perseverance.
That journey not only elevates the stature of Vietnamese people, but also fosters core values: Will, discipline, spirit of overcoming difficulties and aspiration to rise up.
Physical education and sports are one of the important foundations for Vietnamese people to cultivate more values, confidently step into the future, be healthier, more courageous, and ready to shoulder new responsibilities of the country.
