The 14th Party Congress has opened a new stage of development with a long-term vision and high political determination. According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van, people-to-people diplomacy is continuing to promote its role as one of the three pillars of comprehensive and modern Vietnamese diplomacy, alongside Party and State diplomacy. With the advantage of widespread partnerships, flexible and close forms, people-to-people diplomacy contributes to consolidating the social foundation of relations between Vietnam and other countries, strengthening understanding, trust, and mobilizing international resources to serve the development and promotion of the country's image.
People-to-people diplomacy is implemented by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, people's organizations, localities, businesses, intellectuals, artists, religious dignitaries and the Vietnamese community abroad, under the leadership of the Party and the unified management of the State.
Besides the achievements, the Deputy Minister also pointed out some limitations of people-to-people diplomacy: The connection of friendship activities with development cooperation is not uniform, access to the young generation and experts is still limited, the presence capacity in the digital space is still thin, while the effectiveness assessment is not systematic. Faced with the rapidly changing world situation, increasing strategic competition and digital technology profoundly changing the way of impacting public opinion, the requirement to innovate people-to-people diplomacy becomes more urgent than ever. Therefore, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van pointed out 6 points that need to be strongly innovated to promote the overall strength of Vietnamese diplomacy:
First, it is necessary to continue to raise awareness and responsibility of the entire political system, thoroughly grasping that people-to-people diplomacy is a key and regular task of all agencies, organizations, localities and people.
Second, clearly define the focus, linking people-to-people diplomacy with the country's strategic priorities, directly serving the maintenance of a peaceful environment, protecting sovereignty and promoting socio-economic development.
Third, build a multi-layered, multi-sectoral, sustainable partner network, proactively approach new partners such as young people, scholars, experts, entrepreneurs and influencers in the digital space, gradually shifting from "participation" to "contribution", from "contribution" to "creation".
Fourth, create a substantial breakthrough in foreign information and digital diplomacy on the people's channel, build a network of scholars, overseas Vietnamese, and journalists as the core to spread positive information and establish a rapid response mechanism to false information.
Fifth, innovate the evaluation work, consider efficiency measurement as a mandatory step, build a set of criteria and databases to monitor the impact and spread of activities, instead of quantitative and formal assessments.
Sixth, improve the coordination mechanism, ensuring the connection between Party foreign affairs, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy, from the stage of building policies, selecting partners to organizing activities and evaluating results.
Renovating people-to-people diplomacy requires political determination, strategic thinking and the creative and proactive spirit of all levels and sectors. In a volatile world, the immutable value of the people's channel is still trust and closeness between people, continuing to be a sustainable bridge of friendship, contributing to building the overall strength of Vietnamese diplomacy in the new era of development.
