Dear General Secretary, in the 2020-2025 term, the country faces many unprecedented difficulties and challenges, but under the leadership of the Party, the efforts and endeavors of the entire political system, the entire people, and the entire army, we have achieved many important and quite comprehensive results in implementing the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress. Please share with the General Secretary the outstanding achievements in the past time?
General Secretary To Lam: First of all, it is necessary to affirm that the results that the country has achieved in the past term are the crystallization of the talented leadership of the Party, the drastic involvement of the entire political system and, above all, the consensus, determination, bravery and affection of our people in the most challenging moments.
The 13th term of the Party Congress was a particularly difficult period. Epidemics, natural disasters, climate change, international fluctuations, economic difficulties, supply chain breakdowns, jobs, financial and banking pressures... came in droves, continuously, posing difficult problems for us, requiring solutions that are policies, countermeasures, and quick, accurate, and decisive handling measures. Difficulties are like mountains, but we have overcome and reached the finish line. It is worth noting that in many difficult times, the country has maintained stability, society has maintained order and trust, and economic - production - circulation "blood veins" have been restored in time, so that we can continue to move forward.
In terms of economy, we have made great efforts to both recover after the pandemic and maintain major balances, keeping the economy from being shaken by external storms. Many industries, many localities, and many businesses have learned how to steer, innovate, find markets, create jobs, and maintain the production rhythm. As a result, our economy has demonstrated resilience, perseverance, and the spirit of not backing down.
In terms of society, we always closely follow the development orientation that is not only growth, but also the peaceful and better life of the people. In difficult times, the spirit of mutual affection, "the healthy leaf protects the torn leaf", the silent and great sacrifice of the frontline forces, of the army, police, health, teachers, workers... have left many profound lessons about the strength of solidarity. Policies on social security, poverty reduction, and care for vulnerable people and difficult areas continue to be implemented, with a very clear goal: not leaving anyone behind.
Regarding foreign affairs, we are steadfast in the path of independence and self-reliance; being friends, being reliable partners, being responsible members of the international community. In the context of world polarization and fierce competition, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, expanding cooperative relations, and taking advantage of resources for development is a very commendable achievement. Our foreign affairs are not only to "more friends, less enemies", but more importantly to expand the development space, enhance the country's position, and develop together in peace, friendship, cooperation, and equality.
Regarding Party building and the political system, we persist in very fundamental things: maintaining discipline and order, maintaining integrity, purifying the contingent, consolidating people's trust. The work of preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity continues to be promoted, with the spirit of doing it thoroughly, without avoidance, without forbidden zones, without exceptions. The goal is not only to handle violations but also to warn, to build and improve mechanisms, so that the right is protected, good people are encouraged, and cadres can feel secure in working for the people and the country.
In summary, if we are to briefly talk about the outstanding achievements of the term, I think it is: we have overcome challenges with will, determination and solidarity; maintained stability for development; persistently adjusted and perfected to go faster and more steadily. The achievements achieved are great and worthy of respect, but we must still be humble, alert, and not "sleep by the whirlpool". The road ahead still has many big and difficult tasks, if we want to go far and reach the destination, the most important thing is still to maintain faith, discipline, put national and national interests and the happiness of the people first.
Please, General Secretary, assess the work of preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity in the past term and orient in the next term to build the Party to become increasingly clean and strong, leading the country steadily in the new era?
General Secretary To Lam: Preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity is a very important task, which is to maintain the prestige of the Party, maintain the discipline of the law and, more importantly, maintain the people's trust.
Looking back at the past term, it can be affirmed that the "front against internal invaders" has had clear changes, going into depth and essence; proceeded more methodically, more drastically, more scientifically, more willfully; not only political determination, but it has become a regular action of the entire system and received the consensus and support of a large number of people. At the same time, we have also expanded the focus from fighting corruption to fighting both waste and negativity, because waste is often not noisy, but the consequences are very large, corrupting national resources and slowing down development.
The good news is that in that process, we are increasingly aware of a truth: cleaning up the apparatus does not hinder development, but to develop healthier and more sustainably. Handling violations does not weaken the system, but to maintain discipline, maintain rules, to strengthen our team, so that honest people have a foothold, righteous people have a foothold; so that there are no longer "worms and maggots" in the political system.
But it is also necessary to frankly acknowledge: corruption, wastefulness, and negativity are "congenital defects", "invading invaders" hiding within the system. In some places, there are times when we are not alert enough to identify them from the beginning; there is still a situation of evasion, pushing, "fear of responsibility"; there are still loopholes in the mechanism; there is still the management of public assets, investment projects, land, bidding... if not strictly controlled, violations are very likely to arise. In other words, the results are commendable, but absolutely not subjective. There must be vaccines, "antibiotics", "preventive medicine", "community health" to prevent, detect and prevent promptly and effectively.
Regarding the direction in the next term, I want to emphasize a few major points, in the spirit of being both resolute and persistent, doing as much as possible:
First, national - ethnic interests and the interests of the people must be put first. The struggle must be resolute, persistent, regular, and continuous; strict handling but also reasonable and humane; no forbidden zones, no exceptions. At the same time, there must be a mechanism to protect cadres who dare to think, dare to do, innovate and create for the common good, so that those who do right do not suffer losses, and those who do well do not be lonely.
Second, strongly shift to prevention, considering prevention as the root. Combating is necessary, but more importantly, do not let bad things have land to grow. To do so, it is necessary to continue to improve institutions, regulations, and procedures; clarify responsibilities, clarify authority, strengthen control; be more public and transparent, especially in areas prone to negative developments.
Third, focus on perfecting the law, closing loopholes, and setting "standards" for integrity. The correct viewpoints and policies of the Party must be fully institutionalized and synchronized into legal regulations; decentralization and delegation of power must go hand in hand with controlling power; delegation of power must be linked to binding responsibility, not to let "empty space" become "dark space". There must be comprehensive measures so that all subjects "cannot", "do not dare", "do not need" embezzlement, corruption, and negativity.
Fourth, consider combating wastefulness as a very important front. Wastefulness is not only money, but also time, opportunities, resources, and trust. Therefore, it is necessary to review and thoroughly handle projects that are behind schedule, prolonged, and inefficient; rectify financial and budgetary discipline; improve the quality of public governance, so that every penny, every inch of land, every public asset truly serves development and serves the people. We advocate prioritizing resources for development, this also has a part of "land" that may arise for wastefulness. Therefore, we need to warn and have measures to prevent wastefulness from occurring.
Fifth, promote the role of grassroots party organizations and the supervision of the people. Where the party organization is strong, disciplined, and people know - people discuss - people supervise well, then negativity is difficult to rise. Preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity cannot just be the job of functional agencies; it must be a way of thinking, a cultural behavior habit of the entire system, in which setting an example of the head is key.
I want to emphasize more: entering a new stage of development, we need a clean apparatus for the people to trust, strong to work, and humane to gather. Doing this work must be very alert: resolute with the wrong, but also create an environment for the right to spread; strictly handle to deter, but at the same time improve the mechanism so that good people have conditions to work, so that society operates transparently and orderly.
Before the 14th National Party Congress, General Secretary, please share about the significance of this Congress, the main ideologies, strategic vision, and aspirations to develop a rich, prosperous, civilized, and happy Vietnam?
General Secretary To Lam: Each Party Congress is a very important milestone, but with the 14th Congress, the meaning is even deeper, because we enter the Congress in a context where the world is changing very quickly, with many instabilities and difficulties to predict; while the country after many decades of renovation has a new plan, potential and position, and is also facing new, higher, and more drastic development requirements. This is the time when we need to look directly at reality, correctly identify opportunities and challenges; summarize what has been done, point out what is still obstacles and the most important thing is to unify will and unify actions to move forward firmly.
I think there are three major points in leading ideology and strategic vision that this Congress needs to clarify and strongly spread.
The first point is solidarity and belief. Solidarity is not just a slogan or a call. Solidarity must become the way of conduct of the entire system and of every Vietnamese person: solidarity within the Party, solidarity within the people, solidarity between the Party's will and the people's hearts; knowing how to put common things first, knowing how to put private things on hold when needed. And along with solidarity is belief: believing in the path we have chosen, believing in the strength of the nation, believing that good things will come if we work persistently and for the country and for the people.
The second point is discipline and breakthrough. If the country wants to go fast, it needs breakthrough, but if it wants to go far, it must have discipline. Therefore, the action motto of the Congress is clearly defined: "Unity - Democracy - Discipline - Breakthrough - Development". Breakthrough here is not just doing some "new things" but innovating thinking to dare to "touch" real bottlenecks: institutions, apparatus, quality of human resources, management capacity, public service discipline; so that the country operates more smoothly, fairly, transparently, and effectively.
The third point is development for people and with knowledge. The desire for "richness, prosperity, civilization, happiness" must first be measured by very ordinary things: do people have better jobs, are their incomes more stable; do they have a "more dignified, bigger, and more beautiful" place to live; do their children study more conveniently, do their diseases receive better care, do the elderly rely on them, do difficult areas receive timely assistance... And if we want everything to be "more", then we must consider knowledge, science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as the key drivers of the new growth model; and at the same time strongly promote all social resources, in which the private economy is an important driving force.
The strategic vision of the Congress is also associated with very clear milestones: choosing policies to successfully implement the goals to 2030 and realizing the vision to 2045. These are "golden milestones" to strive for, so that each sector, each locality, each agency and each citizen see themselves with specific tasks in the common journey.
According to the plan, the 14th National Congress of the Party will be held from January 19, 2026 to January 25, 2026 in Hanoi Capital. This is a major political event of the Party and our nation, a historical milestone of the country in the Ho Chi Minh era, marking the convergence of thousands of years of tradition of the Nation to rise up in the new era. Cadres, Party members and people are very interested, following, looking forward to and placing many expectations on the success of the Congress. I believe that the 14th National Congress of the Party is truly a place of convergence of wisdom, bravery and aspiration, a Congress that speaks the truth, discusses the right things to be discussed and decides the right things to be decided.
On the occasion of the 2026 New Year, what message does the General Secretary send to the Vietnamese people and the international community?
General Secretary To Lam: On the occasion of the 2026 New Year, I want to send a short, sincere message.
To the Vietnamese People, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the trust, for the silent sacrifices, for the patience and affection that our compatriots have given each other and given to the country in the years of many upheavals. I hope each family will welcome a peaceful new year; each person enters the new year with a simple thing: doing better in their work, material and spiritual life improves day by day. When millions of those "better things" are combined, the country will strengthen sustainably.
I also hope that the contingent of cadres and party members at all levels always remember: the higher the position, the greater the responsibility; the more power you have, the more you must bind yourself with discipline, integrity and exemplary behavior. Do everything that benefits the people, do your best; avoid everything that causes trouble for the people; correct anything that is wrong, and protect anything that is good.
With friends and the international community, Vietnam always cherishes goodwill, trust and cooperation. We hope to work with countries, organizations and people around the world to build a peaceful, stable environment, cooperate and develop together; Vietnam is always a reliable partner, a responsible member, joining hands to solve common challenges such as climate change, non-traditional security, inclusive development, digital transformation and innovation. We believe that the best things always start from mutual respect, from sincere dialogue and from cooperation that brings benefits to the people of countries and nations around the world.
Wishing compatriots, soldiers nationwide and international friends a year 2026 of health, peace, cooperation and development.
Happy New Year 2026./.
