On August 1, in Hanoi, attending and giving directing speeches at the 33rd Diplomatic Conference, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized: "With the Party Congress Resolution for the first time identifying diplomacy and foreign affairs as a key and regular task, foreign affairs are not simply external relations but have become a component of national overall capacity".
To bring the foreign policy of the 14th Party Congress and the Party's resolutions into life, the General Secretary and President requested the entire foreign affairs sector and agencies working in foreign affairs to focus on 6 key tasks:
First, continue to innovate thinking, improve the quality of forecasting research and strategic advice.
The world is changing rapidly, thinking is slow to innovate, then actions will be slow" - General Secretary, President noted.
Therefore, research goes one step ahead to help Party and State leaders know trends, opportunities, and risks early, anticipate situations, not to be strategically surprised, must look at the world correctly, understand the country clearly, and correctly identify benefits and capabilities. Research must focus on issues that directly and long-term affect Vietnam's security and development. Research work needs to pay attention to identifying opportunities and proposing specific actions.
According to General Secretary and President To Lam, innovating thinking requires bravery in recommendations and proposals, advisory officials must dare to raise issues, protect correct recommendations and be responsible for their opinions.
New position and strength require a confident, proactive, responsible but always sincere, humble and respectful attitude towards partners" - General Secretary, President noted.
Second, deepening and improving the effectiveness of foreign relations.
According to the General Secretary and President, the established and upgraded relationship frameworks must be concretized by action programs and projects, with measurable results. Upgrading relations opens a new journey, not just completing work. After each high-level visit, there must be a implementation plan, and each agreement must clearly state the presiding agency, responsible for inspection.
In relationships, trust, sincerity and long-term benefits need to be valued, and differences should be properly addressed, without allowing an isolated issue to affect all relationships. The effectiveness of relations does not lie in the frequency of contact or the name of the framework. The main measure is a consolidated peaceful environment, protecting the interests of the country, expanding the market, forming projects, replicating technology, and benefiting the people.
Third, bring diplomacy to serve development in depth, taking substantive effectiveness as a measure.
The General Secretary and President noted that each representative agency must understand the needs of the country, the plans of the area, find the right partners and closely follow the work. Ministries, branches, and localities must prepare projects, site mechanisms, human resources, and reception conditions.
Opportunities outside only become internal strength when the inside is ready. This is a common task of representative agencies, domestic agencies, businesses and people" - General Secretary, President emphasized.
According to the General Secretary and President, science and technology must become a regular task. Diplomacy is not only about finding capital but also about finding knowledge, talents and good practices. Along with that, it is necessary to improve the quality of work for overseas Vietnamese and cultural diplomacy, foreign information, consular affairs, citizen protection, creating conditions for overseas Vietnamese to be attached and contribute to their homeland; promote intellectuals, entrepreneurs and expert networks; consular services are convenient and transparent; citizen protection must be fast, correct, and responsible. All foreign affairs activities must serve the country and serve the people.
According to the General Secretary and President, the remaining 3 tasks are to raise the level of multilateral foreign affairs and deploy comprehensive, synchronous and effective international integration; Strongly innovate the mechanism of coordination, inspection and organization of implementation, focusing on removing bottlenecks; Pay special attention to building a contingent of foreign affairs officials with sufficient qualities, capacity, and prestige to meet the requirements of tasks in the new period.
