Hanoi (VNA) - Party General Secretary To Lam delivered a speech at the closing session of the 12th plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee in Hanoi on July 19.
The following is the full text of the speech.
Comrades, members of the Party Central Committee,
Distinguished delegates,
After two urgent, serious, democratic, and highly responsible working days, the 12th plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee successfully completed its entire agenda. The meeting engaged in thorough and comprehensive discussions and reached a high consensus on three groups of issues with strategic significance and long-term orientation, directly linked to the preparation for the 14th National Party Congress and advancing the continued renewal and sustainable development of the country in the new era.
On behalf of the Politburo and the Secretariat, I would like to express my sincere thanks to members of the Party Central Committee and delegates attending the plenum for your strong sense of responsibility and candid, insightful, and wholehearted opinions to issues presented at the event. I also wish to thank the Office of the Party Central Committee and relevant agencies for well serving this plenum. Next, I would like to summarise the important results and identify major tasks and solutions that need to be implemented immediately after the meeting.
I. Orientation for documents to be submitted to the 14th National Party Congress.
With revolutionary spirit and determination for continued renewal, the Party Central Committee decided to integrate the contents of three documents, including the political report, the socio-economic report, and the report on Party building, into a single consistent, unified, and synchronous political report to submit to the 14th National Party Congress.
The Party Central Committee requested that the new political report must be completed in the direction of: (1) ensure inheritance and innovation, accurately reflecting the country's development practices, especially the outstanding achievements in politics, economy, socio-culture, national defence, security, and foreign affairs... with the view that our current standing, potential, international reputation and stature are the result of the thousand-year cultural heritage of the nation, most notably the accomplishments of 95 years under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, 80 years of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 40 years of the Doi Moi (renewal) process, and the tremendous contributions and sacrifices of generations of Party members and people; (2) clearly define the goals of the 14th National Party Congress tenure and the vision toward 2045, 2050, and beyond, in alignment with the two centennial milestones - 100 years under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and 100 years of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; (3) highlight new development drivers, including science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, the development of high-quality human resources, and the effective utilisation of advantages of deep international integration; (4) affirm the pivotal role of Party building and rectification, as well as the fight against corruption, wastefulness, and other negative phenomena; resolutely oppose individualism, group interests, and the degradation of political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle; strengthen power oversight and control; enhance the Party’s leadership, ruling capacity, and combative strength; and improve national governance capacity and the operation of the organisational apparatus within the political system; (5) the Party Central Committee assigned the Politburo and the Secretariat to continue directing sub-committees responsible for making preparations for the 14th National Party Congress to finalise the documents, and continue collecting feedback within the Party and across society to ensure their quality, consensus, and strategic stature; (6) the review reports on the implementation of the Party Charter and on 40 years of Doi Moi (renewal) process must also be refined in the spirit outlined above, so that they truly serve as a foundation for preserving solidarity and unity within the Party, as well as a basis for formulating future national development strategies.
II. Regarding the revision and supplementation of certain resolutions and conclusions of the Party Central Committee to establish a political foundation for advancing national reform and renewal.
The Party Central Committee reviewed and provided guidance on summarising practices and assessing obstacles and inadequacies in several existing laws and institutional frameworks, thus guiding amendments aimed at removing legal bottlenecks and fostering development in the new period. Lawmaking should follow the following orientations: legal provisions must be stable with long-term validity. Laws governing development-related matters should stipulate only the fundamental principles and framework issues that fall under the authority of the National Assembly. For practical matters that are subject to frequent changes, the authority should be delegated to the Government, ministries, sectors, and localities to ensure flexibility and alignment with practical conditions. It is necessary to continue to innovate and refine the structure of the national legal system in line with the new development model. Based on the Patty Central Committee’s feedback, the Politburo will be responsible for directing the issuance of conclusions on the revision, supplementation, and improvement of resolutions submitted for comments at this plenum.
For land-related issues, focus should be placed on improving the legal framework concerning land ownership, planning, and use, ensuring transparency, fairness, efficiency, and balanced interests among the State, the people, and businesses. It is essential to affirm that land is a special national resource, an important asset for national development, and a key input for socio-economic development investment. Land management and use must serve the common interests of all citizens. Efforts should be made to complete the development of a centralised, unified, synchronised, multi-purpose, and interconnected national land database and information system. Land use planning must be formed at both national and local levels. Priority should be given to allocating land for developing synchronous infrastructure systems, industry, services, and urban development, towards maximising the efficiency of land use.
For the field of planning, it is necessary to address overlaps and inconsistencies among sectoral, regional, and local planning schemes; provide appropriate solutions to create a foundation for implementing harmonious and complementary spatial planning, which is capable of generating synergies between national, regional, and local plans. The adjustment of the national master plan for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050, is both necessary and urgent. Such adjustment must be aligned with the country’s socio-economic development strategy, the overarching guidelines and policies of the Party and the State, and the orientation for organising socio-economic development space following the reorganisation of administrative units.
With regard to education and training, the Party Central Committee required strengthening the comprehensive leadership of Party committees, promoting the role and responsibility of the heads of educational and training institutions; the State shall play the leading role in ensuring resources for investment in and development of education and training; at the same time, vigorously promoting socialisation, intensifying the mobilisation of the maximum possible social resources for the development of education and training; not using the level of financial autonomy as the basis for determining the level of autonomy of public educational and training institutions.
The Party Central Committee affirmed: Institutional reform is a breakthrough step, a key driving force to promote rapid and sustainable development. Therefore, it requires all levels and sectors to: (i) proactively review and propose amendments and supplements to legal documents that remain inadequate or contradictory; (ii) build a legal system that is coherent, unified, transparent, and feasible, thereby creating a favourable investment and business environment and ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the people; (iii) accelerate the application of technology in State governance, transitioning from a management-focused administration model to a service-oriented one.
III. Regarding the orientation for personnel work for the 14th National Party Congress
In recent times, despite having to focus intensively on leading and directing the completion of a very large volume of work related to the reorganisation and streamlining of the organisational apparatus, as well as provide timely advice on the appointment of leadership personnel for central and local agencies and units, the Politburo directed the Personnel Subcommittee to study and fully absorb the opinions of the Party Central Committee expressed at the 11th plenary meeting in order to finalise the draft Orientation for Personnel Work of the 14th-tenure Party Central Committee; at the same time, to develop guidelines for the allocation of structure and number of official members of the Party Central Committee to localities, agencies, and units, and to submit them to the 12th plenum of the Party Central Committee for consideration in accordance with regulations. These matters, after discussion, received the basic agreement and high consensus of the Central Party Committee.
The Party Central Committee unanimously affirmed the following assessments: (1) The orientation for personnel work for the 14th National Party Congress is an especially important document, decisive for the entire process of preparation and election of personnel to the Central Party Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the General Secretary, and key leadership positions of the State, thereby contributing to the success of the 14th National Party Congress; it is necessary to continue to enhance the position and more clearly affirm the comprehensive, absolute, and direct leadership role of the Party over the country, particularly at a time when we are vigorously, synchronously, and comprehensively directing the reorganisation and streamlining of the organisational apparatus from the central level down to the grassroots level in order to enter an era of national development and prosperity; (2) Cadre work is the “key of all keys”; therefore, the preparation of personnel for the 14th National Congress of the Party must be conducted in a synchronous, scientific, methodical, rigorous, democratic, objective, and transparent manner; ensuring full compliance with the Party’s regulations, the principle of democratic centralism, and the provisions of law; (3) The preparation of personnel for the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat must adhere to and uphold the Party’s viewpoints and fundamental principles; national and ethnic interests must be placed above all else; a harmonious and reasonable balance must be achieved between standards and structure; between inheritance, stability and renewal, development; between generality and specificity; between academic qualifications and practical strengths and competencies; between reputation, work experience and development potential; with particular emphasis placed on the quality, effectiveness, and output of work, and the dedication of cadres as a measure for evaluation, appointment, and use; ensuring appropriateness in terms of structure, age, gender, ethnicity, and region; (4) The nomination and selection of personnel must be based on criteria and conditions as prescribed, in general, grounded in planning, but not applied too rigidly, and instead, specific realities must be taken into account to ensure that no promising individuals outside the planned pool who possess outstanding qualities and leadership capacities, and can best meet the demands of the revolution in the new period are not overlooked; this must also be closely aligned with the personnel arrangements for key leadership positions in the Party’s committees, ministries, departments, agencies, and units at both central and local levels for the 2026-2031 term, as well as the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organisations in the upcoming term; (5) Resolutely ensure that those who fail to meet the standards, conditions, and are unworthy will not “slip through” into the 14th-tenure Party Central Committee; at the same time, effective solutions and measures must be taken to limit and promptly address the situation that newly elected members of the Party Central Committee or those newly planned or appointed are later subjected to review, disciplinary action, or criminal prosecution; (6) Regarding the orientation for the structure and numbers of official members of the 14th Party Central Committee allocated to localities, agencies, and units, the Party Central Committee expressed high agreement and unanimity, stating that the allocation orientation has been relatively well-prepared, rigorous, with an emphasis on continuity, alignment with actual conditions and persuasiveness; and at the same time, closely tied to the requirements of leadership in carrying out political tasks and in building a contingent of senior Party leaders both for the immediate future and for the new phase of national development.
Regarding the Party congresses at all levels, the Party Central Committee affirmed that the Party congresses at all levels for the 2025–2030 term hold particularly important significance. This is not only a major and extensive political activity among the entire Party and people, but also a premise for the successful organisation of the 14th National Party Congress. At present, agencies and organisations within the political system operating under the two-tier local administrative unit model have entered into functioning. Party committees and organisations at all levels must focus their leadership and direction to successfully organise the Party congresses at all levels, according to the following timeline: Grassroots-level congresses must be completed before July 31, 2025; higher-level congresses and congresses of commune, ward, and special zone Party organisations must be completed before August 31, 2025; provincial-level Party congresses and those of Party organisations directly under the Party Central Committee must be finished before October 31, 2025. At the same time, Party organisations, during the process of preparing and organising their congresses, must engage in thorough discussion of tasks and solutions to contribute further to the completion of the documents for the 14th National Party Congress as well as the documents of their respective congresses; and must show a spirit of innovation and revolutionary determination in leadership, direction, and execution.
The Party Central Committee asked its Organisation Commission; provincial and municipal Party Committees, and their affiliated Party committees to urgently roll out plans for Party congresses at all levels. They must proactively resolve arising issues to avoid passivity, delays, or internal disunity.
Regarding personnel work, the Party Central Committee reached high consensus on core principles: (1) Firmly uphold the principle of the Party’s unified leadership over personnel work; conduct right processes in an objective, transparent, democratic, and disciplined manner, preventing improper lobbying; (2) Build a strong contingent of officials at all levels. In addition to focusing on the training and development of strategic-level officials, particular attention must be paid to strengthening the grassroots-level cadre force to ensure they are capable of effectively fulfilling their duties. Priority should be given to selecting individuals who meet the required standards in terms of political integrity, morality, practical competence, innovative thinking, the spirit of daring to think, act and take responsibility, staying close to the people, and a clear vision for development for key leadership positions.
The Party Central Committee decided to remove comrades Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vo Van Thuong, Vuong Dinh Hue, and Le Minh Khai from all Party positions; expel comrade Nguyen Thi Kim Tien from the Party; and agree to let comrade Do Duc Duy cease to hold the position of member of the 13th Party Central Committee and comrade Vo Chi Cong cease to hold the position of alternate member of the 13th Party Central Committee.
IV. Two-tier local government model implementation
The conference acknowledged the initial report on the implementation of the two-tier local government model in 34 provinces and centrally-run cities, covering 3,321 communes, wards, and special zones. The administrative space has been reorganised in the direction of supplementing, supporting, and fostering endogenous development momentum for each province, each region, and the country as a whole.
After 19 days of implementation, initial assessments show: (1) the apparatus is functioning stably without major disruptions, with staff adapting well; (2) administrative processes have improved, with public services handled more efficiently; (3) the public has supported the new model and hope that it will prove more effective. However, the Party Central Committee highlighted the need to: (i) finalise regulatory frameworks and interlinked workflows; (ii) promptly address any shortcomings in task assignment and delegation; (iii) enhance re-training for officials, especially those at grassroots levels; (iv) strengthen periodic monitoring, inspection and evaluation of the operational effectiveness of the model.
The Party Central Committee assigned the Government's Party Committee, the Party Committee of Central Party Agencies; the Party Committee of the Fatherland Front and central mass organisations, Party Committees of provinces and cities to continue to closely monitor the situation and conduct a comprehensive six-month review to propose adjustments suitable to reality.
V. Priority tasks after the 12th plenum
To effectively implement the outcomes of the 12th plenum, Party Committees and organisations and the entire political system must focus on the following key tasks:
1. Widely disseminate the conclusions of the plenum to ensure thorough understanding and broad consensus among all Party members.
2. Accelerate completion of draft documents for the 14th National Party Congress, widely gather public feedback, promote collective wisdom, and refine the documents to make them concise, easy to understand, visionary, and strategic.
3. Urgently review and propose law revisions to stimulate innovation, facilitate development, and remove institutional bottlenecks to ensure the interests of people and businesses.
4. Prepare for Party congresses at all levels in a methodical, thorough, democratic, and procedural manner, with particular emphasis on the drafting of documents and personnel work.
5. Continue refining the two-tier local government model while enhancing the quality of cadres, the spirit of public service, and the effectiveness of public governance.
6. Well organise activities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of National Day (September 2, 1945 – 2025) and other major national holidays, fostering a vibrant atmosphere of emulation, joy, confidence, and pride among the entire Party, people, and armed forces across the country. Fulfill the goals of safeguarding the Fatherland, advancing national development, and improving all aspects of people's lives.
Comrades,
The 12th plenum marks a crucial step in preparation for the 14th National Party Congress. Its outcomes clearly reflect innovative thinking, decisive action, and the spirit of solidarity, democracy, discipline, innovation, and development.
We are facing new opportunities but also many challenges. The global and regional landscape continues to experience complex and unpredictable changes, with both opportunities and challenges intertwined. This requires the entire Party, people and army to maintain their faith and aspirations for development, and to be determined to continue comprehensive renewal to build a peaceful, developed, powerful, prosperous and happy Vietnam.
With that spirit, I declare the 12th plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee concluded.
I wish all comrades good health and successful fulfilment of your assigned tasks.
Thank you.
