Opening of the 13th Plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee

Overview of the meeting. (Photo: Dang Khoa)

In his opening remarks, Party General Secretary To Lam emphasized that socio-economic indicators over the past nine months have shown better performance compared to the same period in 2024; the two-tier local government model has generally operated smoothly; and public services have continued to improve in a direction that places people and enterprises at the center. Development spaces, following the national master planning, are now mutually supportive and synergistic; regional economies have become more defined, transforming into new competitive advantages. The seven strategic resolutions issued by the Politburo over the past year have been paving the way for practical and steady progress, serving the goals of maintaining peace and stability, achieving rapid and sustainable development, improving people’s living standards, and realizing the two centennial objectives set forth by our Party.

The Party General Secretary emphasized that, at this plenum, the Politburo will report to the Party Central Committee for its opinions on the submission regarding the outcomes and proposed personnel plan for the 14th Party Central Committee, the proposed members of the 14th Central Inspection Commission, and will conduct a vote in accordance with regulations.

This is a “matter of utmost importance,” “the most crucial of all crucial tasks,” and a decisive factor for the success of the 14th National Party Congress and the country’s development in the coming period. Delegates attending the plenum must base their selection and nomination of personnel on the criteria, conditions, structure, and number of members defined in the Party’s personnel orientation for the 14th National Congress and other relevant regulations.

In the current stage of the new revolutionary period, special attention must be paid to the factors of “virtue, capability, and talent.” It is imperative to absolutely prevent those who engage in power or position manipulation, opportunism, or factionalism from entering the Party Central Committee. For the personnel of the Central Inspection Commission, it is necessary to select and nominate comrades who are courageous, impartial, knowledgeable in law, and proficient in professional skills — “as pure as a mirror and as sharp as a sword” — truly serving as the bright blade safeguarding the Party’s discipline and integrity.

Regarding the draft documents of the 14th National Party Congress, the Party General Secretary affirmed that the contents of the documents have been elaborately and meticulously prepared, updated, revised, and supplemented many times, and have fundamentally met the requirements for submission to the 14th National Party Congress. The Document Sub-committee has refined and incorporated the core contents of the seven recently issued Politburo resolutions into the Political Report, bringing the total number of new points in the draft documents to 17. Efforts are being made to develop the documents to be submitted to the 14th National Party Congress not only to review the country’s development over the past five years and define the goals and tasks for the next five years, but also to shape strategic thinking, vision, and development orientation for the nation through the mid-21st century.

With that spirit, the Party General Secretary requested members of the Party Central Committee and invited delegates to continue contributing opinions to further improve the draft documents, focusing on reaffirming the pivotal role of Party building and rectification, continuing to reform the Party’s leadership methods, and enhancing its governing capacity and combativeness. Particular focus should be placed on such issues as: theoretical foundations of the renewal policy; streamlining the organizational apparatus of the State; improving the efficiency of the two-tier local government model; promoting decentralization and delegation of authority; environmental protection; strengthening national defence, security, foreign affairs, and international integration as regular key tasks; establishing a new growth model driven mainly by science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation; further perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy model; and drawing valuable lessons from 40 years of renewal.

The Party General Secretary particularly noted that it is necessary to supplement contents relating to the orientation of strategic autonomy, the renewal of the development model, and the mindset of effective accounting in national development.

Regarding socio-economic issues, the Party General Secretary stated that, overall, the country’s socio-economic picture in 2025 is dominated by bright colours. This reflects the tremendous efforts and determination of the Party, the Government, the National Assembly, agencies within the political system, administrations at all levels, the business community, and the entire people.

However, there remain many internal issues in the economy that require attention and resolution to achieve more sustainable growth and development. The year 2026, being the first year of the new tenure, holds great significance for implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress. The targets to be fulfilled are very high, particularly economic growth, which must exceed 10%, with per capita GDP reaching between USD 5,400 and 5,500, and the CPI growth rate maintained at around 4.5%.

This is a mandatory requirement but also an extremely challenging task. The Party Central Committee provides overall orientations for the Party delegations in the National Assembly and the Government to lead the completion of the socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimate for 2026 and the following period, in the spirit of enhancing strategic autonomy, self-reliance, and resilience in national development, with the motto: “stability, discipline, acceleration, breakthrough, sustainability.”

Delegates are required to focus their discussions on the following key priorities: maintaining macroeconomic stability; promoting the three growth drivers; digital and green transformation; improving productivity, quality, and standards; developing the capital, labour, science and technology, and real estate markets towards safety, transparency, and efficiency; and resolutely implementing the programme for the development of 11 strategic technologies as stated in the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW.

The Party General Secretary requested each member of the Party Central Committee to uphold their responsibility before the Party and the people, to set an example, work in a substantive and effective manner, maintain discipline and order, “never put off until tomorrow what can be done today,” “walk the talk,” and “do what has been said,” showing determination to ensure that the 13th Party Central Committee’s Plenum will achieve substantive success, laying the groundwork for the success of the 14th National Party Congress.

The Conference takes place from October 6 to 8 to discuss and give opinions on the following groups of issues: preparations for the 14th National Party Congress; socio-economic development; matters considered and decided by the Politburo since the 12th Plenum of the Party Central Committee; and several personnel-related issues under the authority of the Party Central Committee.