Briefing on Vietnam’s 14th Party Congress Held for Diplomatic Corps and International Organizations

Distinguished Comrades and Leaders of Ministries and Sectors,

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors, Chargés d’Affaires and Heads of International Organizations’ Representatives,

Distinguished Guests,

1. Today, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam is organizing a notification briefing on the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the Diplomatic Corps and International Organizations in Vietnam.

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, I wish to sincerely express our gratitude for the large attendance of Your Excellencies, Ambassadors, Chargés d’Affaires, Heads of International Organizations’ Representatives, and representatives of diplomatic agencies present here.

As you already know, the National Party Congress is a major political event of the Party, the State, and the Vietnamese people. The 14th Party Congress is scheduled to take place from January 19, 2026 to January 25, 2026 in the capital city of Hanoi. The Congress represents a very important milestone in the development process of our Party and our country.

2. At today’s meeting, I wish to provide some key information regarding the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam as follows:

2.1 On the Significance of the Congress

— The 14th Congress of the Party is of pivotal and exceptionally significant importance as a landmark on our nation’s development path. It is an occasion for the Congress to comprehensively review and assess 40 years since the implementation of the Renovation (Đổi Mới) process; simultaneously, the Congress will evaluate the implementation of the 13th Party Congress Resolution, and determine objectives, directions, and tasks for the next 5 years and 10 years ahead, as well as the vision until 2045.

— In the context of global and regional situations evolving rapidly, complexly, and unpredictably; with our country facing numerous opportunities and favorable conditions intertwined with significant difficulties, challenges, and new issues requiring resolution, the Congress is expected to adopt correct and strong decisions to propel our country forward in this new era.

2.2 On the Congress Organization:

The 14th Congress is scheduled to be held from January 19, 2026 to January 25, 2026 in the capital city of Hanoi. The Congress will have 1,586 delegates in attendance, representing over 5 million party members. Given the crucial responsibility, Congress preparation has been closely and carefully directed by the Central Committee, specifically through the Politburo and the Party Secretariat, covering organizational aspects, content, and cadre work. To date, Congress preparations have been thoroughly completed, with security and safety assured, in full compliance with Party regulations.

2.3 On the Theme of the 14th Congress:

— The Congress theme is: “Under the glorious flag of the Party, united in determination to successfully achieve our nation’s development goals by 2030; strategic self-reliance, self-strengthening, self-confidence, advancing powerfully in the era of national resurgence, for peace, independence, democracy, prosperity, civilization, happiness, and steadfast progress toward socialism.”

— The selection of this theme is based on the following principal requirements:

(i) The theme reflects the position and significance of the 14th Party Congress as a pivotal and exceptionally important milestone on our nation’s development path. Notably, the 14th Party Congress marks our nation’s entry into a new era—the era of national resurgence—following the eras of national liberation and Renovation.

(ii) The theme serves as a message of call to action, encouragement, mobilization, and direction to continue comprehensively, coherently, and profoundly advancing the Renovation process, seizing all opportunities, and resolving to overcome all difficulties and challenges; to successfully achieve our nation’s development goals by 2030—marking the 100th anniversary of the Party’s founding (1930-2030)—and moving toward realizing our vision by 2045, marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1945-2045).

(iii) The theme reflects the overall objectives and core ideological content running throughout, clearly setting forth the most important components, including: Party leadership; the people’s role and national strength; the continuation of the Renovation process and national development goals in the new era; building upon and developing the themes from previous Congresses, particularly the 13th Party Congress.

2.4 On Congress Documents:

— The draft documents for the 14th Congress feature substantial innovations in both structure and content. This Congress’s document-building process represents a fundamental departure from recent Congresses. Most notably, the Political Report for the first time integrates content from three documents—the Political Report, the Socio-Economic Report, and the Party-Building Summary Report—into a single Political Report with a continuous, coherent, and unified thread for presentation to the 14th Congress. This integration reflects a spirit of continued innovation in document-building methodology, grounded in our nation’s new realities, theoretical development, and organizational implementation, ensuring consistency of content while being concise, comprehensive, easily understood, memorable, and implementable. The content reflects a spirit of facing reality directly, making objective assessments, and on that basis, proposing guiding perspectives, national development objectives, strategic directions, priority tasks, and breakthrough solutions for rapid and sustainable national development, embodying the nation’s strong aspiration for resurgence in this new era.

— Beyond the contributions from Party congresses at all levels, during the national consultation period from October 15, 2025 to November 15, 2025, approximately 14 million opinions were submitted by nearly 5 million cadres, party members, and citizens participating in the document-drafting process. This Congress represents the most extensive public participation in opinion-giving compared to previous Congresses. Former Party and State leaders, cadres, party members, National Assembly deputies, members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, representatives of political-social organizations, scientists, administrators, and the broad masses of people throughout the country and Vietnamese citizens residing abroad have contributed numerous valuable and sincere opinions, reflecting their deep sense of responsibility toward the Party, the people, and the nation. The Congress Document Sub-committees have extracted and incorporated the maximum feasible suggestions to continue perfecting the Political Report. On this basis, the draft documents have been further refined and submitted to the recent 15th Central Committee Conference.

2.5 On the Foreign Policy Line of the 14th Congress:

– Foreign policy orientation in the Party congress documents is a combination of inheritance and development. On the one hand, it inherits the foreign policy line of the Renovation period: independence, self‑reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development; multilateralization and diversification of external relations; ensuring the highest national‑and‑people interests on the basis of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law; cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit; being a friend, a reliable partner, and an active, responsible member of the international community; proactively and responsibly participating in the resolution of common regional and international issues.

– At the same time, it supplements many new and important contents, with several breakthrough guiding viewpoints on foreign affairs and international integration in response to changes in the international and regional situation and domestic development needs. In particular, it adds the guiding viewpoint “strengthening defense and security and promoting foreign affairs and international integration as a major, regular task.” This is a strategic guiding viewpoint aimed at effectively realizing three strategic interests of security, development and influence: (i) maintaining a peaceful, stable environment, protecting the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity; (ii) developing the economy and society, realizing development goals for 2030 and 2045, bringing the country into a new era, an era of the nation’s advancement; (iii) enhancing the prestige and position of the Party and of the country.

– In addition, there are many new contents on (i) assessing the international and regional environment; (ii) the viewpoint “developing foreign affairs in the new era, commensurate with the country’s historical stature, culture and position”; (iii) supplementing international integration objectives “comprehensive, deep, effective”, “raising Vietnam’s role and position in world politics, the global economy and human civilization”, “proactively and more responsibly participating in the resolution of common international and regional issues”; the task of “promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy”; and (iv) tasks of “proactively participating in building and shaping multilateral institutions”, “high‑level diplomacy, sectoral diplomacy”…

2.8 On some new points of interest to the international public

(i) Identifying “environmental protection” together with economic and social development as a central task. The addition of “environmental protection” together with economic and social development as a central task marks a profound and solid development in awareness of sustainable development based on three pillars: economy, society and environment. This is a strategic commitment, placing ecological environment as the yardstick in development policy and not trading short‑term gains to ensure long‑term interests for the nation and future generations.

To implement this, environmental protection is identified as a pillar to establish a new growth model. The State has been and is completing environmental legislation, strengthening inspection and strictly handling violations; promoting a circular economy, recycling, emission reduction and increasing production value; localities proactively exploit resources sustainably, combine mobilizing green finance through bonds, environmental protection funds and public‑private cooperation; green enterprises are supported with tax incentives, preferential credit and technology transfer to reduce costs. At the international level, Vietnam has committed to green economic development and to carbon neutrality by 2050, prioritizing attraction of green capital, carbon credits and clean technologies.

(ii) Establishing a new growth model that takes science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as the main driving forces. This priority stems from a strategic vision responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where technology and innovation become decisive factors for the speed and quality of socio‑economic development. We determine that only a strong breakthrough in these fields will enable Vietnam to break free from the limits of traditional growth.

Accordingly, the plan is to build a digital government, digital economy and digital society; increase investment in R&D, prioritize core technologies such as AI, Big Data, IoT, molecular biology; build an ecosystem strongly connecting startups, high‑tech enterprises, venture capital funds and innovation centers; complete institutions protecting intellectual property rights, data‑sharing mechanisms, and mechanisms for evaluation and acceptance of scientific and technological products.

(iii) Identifying the private economy as the most important driving force of the economy. Placing the private economy as the most important driving force is a strategic approach in the context of deep integration and increasingly fierce global competition. The development of private enterprises in recent times has demonstrated rapid adaptability, strong innovation and flexibility in the face of fluctuations.

Accordingly, the plan is to promote entrepreneurship and strongly develop various forms of private economy; continue to complete legal mechanisms, minimize administrative barriers and protect property rights, ownership rights, freedom to do business and market competition, and intellectual property rights; improve credit mechanisms, tax and land policies to create equal conditions for all enterprises; develop a system of diverse and flexible market types so that the private economy can effectively exploit capital, land and technology. At the same time, the division of labor, coordination and complementarity among the state economy, private economy, cooperative economy, collective economy, FDI economy and other economic forms will be organized tightly, scientifically and flexibly to maximize the potential and strengths of each economic component.

(iv) Selectively attracting foreign investment projects, focusing on high‑quality investment and high‑technology industries. Vietnam continues to promote foreign direct investment, especially in high‑technology and low‑emission sectors. At the same time, it strengthens the connection between FDI and the domestic economic sector; effectively implements technology transfer, management skills and human resource training; forms ecosystems and strengthens linkages between FDI enterprises and domestic enterprises. Besides FDI, Vietnam will also intensify attraction of indirect investment, particularly investment funds.

2.6 On personnel work

– The preparation and introduction of personnel for the Central Committee of the 14th tenure is an especially important and weighty task. The selection of the Party’s highest leadership personnel has been carried out thoroughly, firmly, prudently, accurately and in accordance with regulations.

“Choosing the right person for the right job”, especially senior personnel and national leaders, is a prerequisite to turn vision and aspiration into results. They must possess political courage, integrity and exemplary conduct, place national and people’s interests above all; have sharp strategic vision and organizational capacity to unlock bottlenecks, mobilize resources and gather strength. At the same time, they must have implementation capacity: design clear, specific goals, establish individual responsibility, measure by data, carry decisions through with high public service discipline. In the digital era, they need digital capability and data thinking, deep understanding of the digital economy, green economy, circular economy, risk governance and the ability to coordinate across sectors, regions and levels. In addition, they must be able to mobilize social resources, design public‑private partnerships, build market trust; have international integration capacity, foreign language skills and a culture of dialogue to expand development space. Emphasis is placed on quality, effectiveness and dedication of cadres, prioritizing those with projects that deliver clear impact; ability to handle crises (natural disasters, epidemics, non‑traditional security); decisive yet receptive to criticism, relying on and serving the people.

2.7 On the results of the 13th Party Congress term and 40 years of Renovation

The implementation of the 13th Party Congress Resolution took place in a world of rapid, complex, unstable and unpredictable developments, with more difficulties and challenges than advantages, and the emergence of epochal changes and many unprecedented issues, notably the Covid‑19 pandemic and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In that context, Vietnam continued to achieve important results in national development. Prominent among them are:

– Economic growth in 2021–2025 averaged about 6.3% per year, placing Vietnam among the high‑growth countries in the region and the world. GDP in 2025 reached USD 514 billion, 1.47 times that of 2020, ranking 32nd globally; GDP per capita reached USD 5,026, entering the group of upper‑middle‑income countries.

– The quality of growth has improved positively, with three strategic breakthroughs creating new foundations and momentum for socio‑economic development. Macroeconomic stability is basically maintained and major balances ensured. Inflation, the state budget deficit and public debt indicators are controlled; trade surplus remains high; the domestic market develops strongly. Development investment resources are mobilized and used more effectively; science, technology, innovation and digital transformation continue to be identified as development drivers.

– Economic growth is more closely associated with ensuring progress and social equity. The Human Development Index (HDI) improved markedly, rising 14 places to 0.766, in the high human development group. Policies and solutions for sustainable poverty reduction have been effectively implemented on the principle of “leaving no one behind”; the multidimensional poverty rate fell from 4.4% in 2021 to 1.3% in 2025. Education and health systems have developed positively and quality has been enhanced.

– National defense and security have been continuously consolidated and strengthened; foreign relations and international integration have been elevated with many outstanding results. The two strategic tasks of building and defending the Fatherland have been combined closely and effectively, maintaining a peaceful, stable environment for national development.

– Party building and rectification have achieved many very important and unprecedented breakthrough results. In particular, the organizational restructuring revolution of the political system toward being leaner, stronger, more effective and efficient has achieved breakthrough results. In a very short time, comprehensive measures were implemented to enable the apparatus to operate normally and smoothly, contributing to paving the way for developmental initiatives.

2.7 On major orientations and priority tasks for the coming period

The Draft Political Report and the Action Program to implement the 14th Party Congress Resolution have identified that in the new period, focus is needed on three strategic breakthroughs:

(i) A strong institutional breakthrough for development; promote decentralization and devolution; push for breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation; develop new production capacities and new models and methods of business and production.

(ii) Focus on structural transformation and improving the quality of human resources; develop high‑quality, highly skilled human resources and prioritize talent; strongly innovate personnel work, encourage and protect dynamic, creative cadres who dare to think, act and take responsibility, and sacrifice for the common good.

(iii) Continue to comprehensively and strongly breakthrough in building socio‑economic infrastructure, especially transport, technology and energy infrastructure.

At the same time, six priority tasks are identified:

(i) Build a clean, strong and comprehensive Party and political system; enhance the Party’s leadership capacity and combat strength.

(ii) Build a comprehensive development institution, focusing on the legal system, mechanisms and policies.

(iii) Develop a socialist‑oriented market economy; improve the efficiency of the state economic sector, develop the private economic sector; establish a new growth model, restructure the economy, and accelerate industrialization and modernization.

(iv) Focus on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation to create a foundation for developing modern new productive forces and effective new production methods.

(v) Develop human resources and culture to become a genuine endogenous strength and a great driving force for rapid and sustainable national development.

(vi) Strengthen defense, security and foreign affairs. Build the People’s Army and the People’s Police to be revolutionary, regular, elite and modern; promote implementation of a comprehensive foreign strategy at a new high level.

2.9 On international guests

– On this occasion, the Communist Party of Vietnam respectfully invited the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of international organizations in Vietnam and non‑resident Ambassadors to attend the Opening and Closing Sessions of the 13th Congress.

The above are the main contents to be announced to the Diplomatic Corps and international organizations today.