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 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 the outstanding achievements in the past time, General Secretary?
- 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 term of the 13th Party Congress was a particularly difficult period. Epidemics, natural disasters, climate change, international fluctuations, economic difficulties, disruption of supply chains, jobs, financial and banking pressures... came in rapidly and continuously, posing difficult problems for us, requiring solutions that are policies, countermeasures, and measures to handle quickly, accurately, and decisively. Difficulties are like mountains, but we have overcome and reached the finish line. It is worth noting that despite many hardships, the country still maintains stability, society still maintains order and trust, and economic - production - circulation "blood vessels" are restored in a timely manner, so that we can continue to move forward.
In terms of economy, we have made great efforts to both recover from 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 production momentum. As a result, our economy has demonstrated resilience, persistence, and the spirit of not backing down.
In society, we always closely follow the development orientation of not only growth, but also the peaceful and better life of the people. In hardship, the spirit of mutual affection, "the healthy leaf protects the torn leaf", the silent and great sacrifice of the frontline forces, the Army, Police, health, teachers, workers... has left many profound lessons about the strength of solidarity. Social security policies, poverty reduction, 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, reliable partners, and responsible members of the international community. In the context of a divided and fiercely competitive world, 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 "add friends and reduce enemies", but more importantly to expand 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 the people's trust. The work of preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity continues to be promoted, with the spirit of doing it thoroughly, not avoiding, 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 talk briefly 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 rectified and improved to go faster and steadier. The achievements achieved are great and worthy of respect, but we must still be humble, tỉnh táo, and not "sleep around the wreath". The road ahead is still full of big and difficult things, if we want to go far and reach the destination, the most important thing is still to maintain faith, discipline, put national interests - nation and people's happiness above all else.
Please, General Secretary, assess the work of preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and negativity in the past term and the orientation in the next term to build the Party to be 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 discipline and 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 deeper and more substantive; carried out 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 anti-corruption to combating both wastefulness and negativity, because wastefulness is often not noisy, but the consequences are very large, eroding national resources and slowing development.
The encouraging thing is that in that process, we are increasingly aware of a truth: Cleaning 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, those who do right have a foothold; so that there are no longer "worms and mites" in the political system.
But we must also frankly recognize: Corruption, wastefulness, and negativity are "inborn defects", "internal invaders" lurking in the system. In some places, sometimes they are not alert enough to identify them from the beginning; there is still a situation of avoidance, 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 can easily 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 several major points, in the spirit of being both resolute and persistent, doing it thoroughly:
First, national and 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 will not suffer losses, and those who do well will not be lonely.
Second, strongly shift to prevention, considering prevention as the root. Fighting is necessary, but more importantly, do not let bad things have land to arise. 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 phenomena.
Third, focus on perfecting the law, closing loopholes, and making it a "standard frame" for integrity. The correct viewpoints and policies of the Party must be fully and synchronously institutionalized into legal regulations; decentralization and delegation of power must go hand in hand with power control; delegation of power must be associated with binding responsibility, not allowing "vacuity" to become "darkness". There must be comprehensive measures so that all subjects "cannot", "dare not", "do not need" to embezzle, corrupt, and be negative.
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 ineffective; 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 is also a "land" that may give rise to wastefulness. Therefore, we need to warn and have measures to prevent wastefulness from happening.
Fifth, promote the role of grassroots Party organizations and the supervision of the people. Where the Party organization is strong, disciplined, people know - people discuss - people supervise well, then negativity is difficult to develop. Prevention and combat of corruption, wastefulness, and negativity cannot be just the job of functional agencies; it must be a way of thinking, a cultural behavior habit of the whole system, in which setting an example of the leader 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 tỉnh táo: resolute with the wrong, but also create an environment for the right to spread; strictly handle to rănđe, but at the same time complete the mechanism so that good people have conditions to work, so that society operates transparently and orderly.
Before the 14th National Party Congress, please share with the General Secretary about the significance of this Congress, the guiding thoughts, strategic vision, and aspirations to develop a strong, 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, difficult to predict; while the country after many decades of renovation has a new foundation, potential and position, and is also facing new, higher, and more drastic development requirements. This is the time for us to look straight at reality, correctly identify opportunities and challenges; summarize what has been done, point out what is still stuck and the most important thing is to unify will and unify actions to move forward steadily.
I think there are three major points about the guiding ideology and strategic vision that this Congress needs to clarify and spread strongly.
The first point is solidarity and trust. Solidarity is not just a slogan or a call. Solidarity must become the way the whole system and each Vietnamese person behave: 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 aside when needed. And along with solidarity is trust: 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 to break through, but if it wants to go far, it must have discipline. Therefore, the action motto of the Congress is clearly defined: "Solidarity - 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; to make the country operate more smoothly, fairly, transparently, and efficiently.
The third point is development for people and with knowledge. The aspiration for "richness, prosperity, civilization, happiness" must first of all 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 children study more conveniently, do they receive better care for their illnesses, do the elderly have shelter, do difficult areas receive timely assistance... And if we want everything to be "better", we must consider knowledge, science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as the key driving forces 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 "milestones" to strive for, so that each sector, each locality, each agency and each citizen see themselves having a specific part to do in the common journey.
The 14th National Party Congress is held from January 19th, 2026 to January 25th, 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 in the new era. Cadres, Party members and people are very interested in, following, looking forward to and placing many expectations on the success of the Congress. I believe that the 14th National Party Congress 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 New Year 2026, what message does the General Secretary have to send to the Vietnamese people and the international community?
- General Secretary TO LAM: On the occasion of the New Year 2026, I want to send a short, sincere message.
With 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 to each other and to the country in many turbulent years. I hope each family welcomes the new year peacefully; each person enters the new year with one simple thing: do better in their work, material and spiritual life improves day by day. When millions of "better" things are combined, the country will become stronger 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 with all your might; do everything that causes trouble for the people with all your might; correct what is wrong, protect what is good.
With friends and the international community, Vietnam always cherishes goodwill, trust and cooperation. We want to work with countries, organizations and people around the world to build a peaceful, stable, cooperative and developing environment; 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 begin with mutual respect, from sincere dialogue and from cooperation that benefits the people of countries and nations around the world.
Wishing compatriots, soldiers across the country and international friends a year of health, peace, cooperation and development in 2026.
Happy New Year 2026!
