Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, April 19 (VNA) --The ninth National Congress of the Party convenes at a time of great significance. The 20th century has come to an end. The 21st century has just started. Our entire Party and people have experienced five years of implementation of the Resolution of the eighth Party Congress, 10 years of execution of the 1991-2000 Strategy for socio-economic stabilisation and development, and 15 years of renewal.

The ninth Congress is to review and evaluate past achievements and shortcomings, make decisions for the coming period, strive to raise the leadership capacity and combativeness of the Party, motivate and promote the strength of the whole nation, continue with the renewal process, step up industrialisation and modernisation, build and safeguard the socialist Vietnamese Homeland, and advance assuredly into the new century.

I. VIET NAM IN THE 20th CENTURY AND PROSPECTS IN THE 21st CENTURY

The 20th century has left extremely profound imprints in the history of mankind. It is a century of fastest ever advance of science and technology, with material production increasing dozens of times compared with the previous century; and of vigorous economic development intertwined with major crises of world capitalism and the acute rich-poor polarisation among countries and regions. It is a century with two bloody world wars and hundreds of armed conflicts. It is also a century that witnessed a far-reaching revolutionary movement on a world scale, with the victory of the Russian October Revolution - a great revolution that ushered in the era of transition from capitalism to socialism; the victory of the socialist revolution in a series of countries of Europe, Asia and Latin America; and the liberation of most colonies; the development of the international communist and workers' movement and the movements for peace and democracy, despite the regression of extant socialism in the last decade.

For our country, the 20th century has been one of great changes, of glorious struggle to regain national independence, freedom and unity, and build socialism, and one of historic and epoch-making exploits and victories.

From the end of the 19th century to the initial decades of the 20th century, our people time and again rose up against colonialism. Following the Van Than and Can Vuong movements, patriotic movements unfolded valiantly during the first three decades of the 20th century, from the Yen The uprising and the Dong Du, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc and Duy Tan movements to the Yen Bai uprising, etc., but all failed for lack of a judicious political line.

In 1930, succeeding to the Viet Nam Revolutionary Youth League and predecessor communist organisations, the Communist Party of Viet Nam came into being, marking a turn of the Vietnamese revolution. Over the 71 years of its build-up and growth, the Party has led our people to great victories:

First, the triumph of the 1945 August Revolution and the founding the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. This was the aggregate outcome of the revolutionary movements that had developed uninterruptedly throughout the 15 years following the founding of the Party, from the Xo Viet Nghe Tinh High-tide and the 1936-1939 democratic movement to the 1939-1945 national liberation movement, although at times drowned in blood. The colonial and semi-feudal regime in our country was wiped out, and a new era emerged, that of national independence closely linked with socialism.
Second, the triumph of the glorious wars of resistance for national liberation and defence, victories over colonialism and neo-colonialism, accomplishment of the people's national democratic revolution, reunification of the Homeland, and advance of the whole country toward socialism, making an important contribution to the struggle of the world people for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress.

Third, the success of the renewal process and the country's gradual transition to socialism. Inheriting the achievements and experiences of socialist construction in the North during the war and in the first years following the country's reunification, and after countless probes and experiments with the people's initiatives, our Party mapped out the renewal policy and led its implementation, to ensure socialist construction and national defence in conformity with Vietnamese reality and the new international conjuncture.

In the process of leading the revolution, our Party has at times committed mistakes and shortcomings; but it has conducted serious self-criticism, actively mended mistakes, and drawn valuable lessons.

With the successes recorded in the 20th century, ours has been turned from a colonial and semi-feudal country into an independent and free nation developing along the socialist line, with broad international relations and an increasingly important status in the region and the world. Once slaves, our people have become masters of the country and society. Once a poor and backward economy, our country has embarked upon the period of stepped-up industrialisation and modernisation.

We are proud of our nation - a heroic, intelligent and creative nation; we are proud of our Party - the Communist Party of Viet Nam founded, led and forged by President Ho Chi Minh - that has fought with devotion and made sacrifices for national independence and freedom and the people's wellbeing.

The 21st century will see more changes. Science and technology will make leaps forward. Knowledge-based economy will play an ever more remarkable role in the process of development of productive forces. Economic globalisation represents an objective trend involving more and more countries; this trend, dominated by a number of developed countries and transnational capitalist economic corporations, is fraught with contradictions, containing both positive and negative aspects, both cooperation and struggle. The basic contradictions in the world, manifested in various forms and to different extents, still exist and develop, growing more profound in certain respects. National struggle and class struggle continue to unfold with acuteness. The world is confronted with many global issues which cannot be solved by any single country without multilateral cooperation, such as environmental protection, control of population boom, repulse of perilous epidemics, combat against international crimes, etc. Contemporary capitalism is holding superiority in funds, science, technology, and markets; yet it cannot overcome the inherent contradictions, especially those between the growing socialised character of the productive forces and the capitalist private ownership of the means of production, and between developed capitalist countries and developing countries. Independent nations will intensify the struggle to choose and decide upon their own path of development. World socialism, learning from lessons of success and failure, and prompted by the aspirations and awakening of nations, has conditions and capabilities to generate a new development. Following the law of evolution of history, mankind will certainly attain socialism.

For the few decades to come, there is little likeliness for a world war. But, local wars, armed conflicts, ethnic and religious strives, arms race, intervention, subversion and terrorism will still occur in many places, increasingly complicated in nature. Peace, cooperation and development remain a major trend, reflecting a pressing demand of states and nations. The struggle for peace, national independence, democracy, people's wellbeing, and social progress and equity will make new forward strides. Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, after the financial-economic crisis, have capacities for dynamic development, but potentially destabilising factors remain.

Those new traits in the international and regional situation bear a strong impact on the situation of our country. There are ahead of us both major opportunities and major challenges.

Coupled with previous successes in national construction and defence, the great and very important achievements of the 15 years of renewal have increased significantly our country's vantage position and strength. The material-technical foundations of the economy have been enhanced. The country still possesses enormous potentials in terms of natural resources and labour. Our people are endowed with fine qualities. The socio-political situation remains basically stable. The peaceful environment, international cooperation and integration, and positive trends in the world are creating conditions for us to continue promoting internal synergy and comparative advantages, attracting external resources - capital, new technologies, managerial experience, and expanding markets - to the benefit of industrialisation and modernisation. Such are major opportunities.

At the same time, our country has to cope with many challenges. The four dangers once pointed out by our Party - our economy falling further behind many countries in the region and the world, deviation from the socialist orientation, corruption and bureaucratism, and "peaceful evolution" attempts by hostile forces - remain in existence, unfolding complicatedly, intertwined and interacting, none of them could be underestimated. It should be underlined that corruption and the degradation in political integrity, ethics and lifestyle of not a small segment of Party officials and members are hindering the implementation of Party guidelines, decisions and policies, causing resentment among the population and eroding their trust; and that ours remains an economically underdeveloped country where the people's living standards are still low, while international competition is becoming increasingly fierce; if we do not rapidly surge ahead, we will lag even further behind economically.

To seize opportunities, surmount challenges, and develop vigorously in the new period, such is for our Party and people an issue of vital significance. The 20th century has been for our nation one of valiant struggle and glorious victory. The 21st century will be for our people one of more and major successes in building socialism and defending the Homeland, thus helping ours keep abreast of developed countries in the world.

II. THE SITUATION OF THE COUNTRY IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND MAIN LESSONS OF THE 15 YEARS OF RENEWAL

The eighth Party Congress laid down the following tasks for the 1996-2000 period: to achieve a rapid, highly effective and sustainable economic growth along with solution of pressing social problems, ensure national defence and security, improve the people's living conditions, and increase accumulation from within the economy, thus creating solid premises for a higher measure of development at the beginning of the 21st century.

Over the past five years, beside certain favourable conditions, our country has met with numerous difficulties: the inherent weaknesses of the economy, successive sizeable natural disasters, the financial-economic crisis in a number of Asian countries, and the complicated world and regional situation. In such circumstances, our entire Party and people have devotedly implemented the eighth Congress Resolution, and recorded important achievements:

The economy has grown fairly well. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased by 7 percent annually on the average. Agriculture has developed continuously, especially food production. Aquatic cultivation and exploitation have been expanded. Industrial production has maintained an average yearly increase of 13.5 percent. The infrastructure system -- posts and telecommunications, roads, bridges, ports, airports, electricity, water conservancy, etc. -- has been enhanced. Services, exports and imports have also developed. In 2000, the downward trend in economic growth rate was halted, and the principal plan targets were either fulfilled or over-fulfilled.

Progress has been made in the cultural and social fields; and the people's life has enjoyed continued improvement. Education and training have developed in terms of scope and material basis. The people's intellectual level and the quality of human resources have been raised. Our country has attained the national standards for illiteracy eradication and primary education universalization. Positive changes have been registered in social sciences and the humanities, as well as in natural and technological sciences, bringing them closer to socio-economic development. Activities in the fields of culture, literature and arts, press and publication have contributed actively to motivating the entire population to participate in national construction and defence, in the improvement knowledge and the quality of life. The essential needs of the population regarding food, housing, clothing, health care, clean water, daily use electricity, education, travel, recreation, etc. have been met more adequately. The sports and physical training movements have developed; certain branches have scored high records at home and abroad. Greater efforts have been made in health care.

Employment has been provided to 1.2 million workhands annually. Hunger eradication and poverty alleviation on a countrywide scope have harvested outstanding results highly appreciated by world opinion. Many achievements have been obtained in population control and family planning, resulting in a United Nations award.

Activities "remembering the source while drinking water", "paying debts of gratitude", taking care of revolutionary veterans, persons with meritorious services to the country, Hero Mothers, war invalids and families of fallen soldiers have been expanded, drawing in people of various callings, public agencies, people's organisations and business enterprises. People throughout the country have made donations in material wealth and labour as relief to compatriots in areas struck by serious natural disasters; taken part in numerous humanitarian-charity activities in favour of Agent Orange victims, the disabled, the supportless elderly, and children in utterly difficult situations.

The socio-political situation has been in the main stable; and national defence and security enhanced. The people's armed forces have discharged well the tasks of defending national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and ensuring national security. The aggregate strength of the all-people national defence and people's security, particularly in strategic areas, border regions, the sea and islands, has been promoted. The army and security forces have been organisationally streamlined to keep up with new demands. Progress has been made in combining national defence and security with economic development and external relations.

Attention has been given to Party building and rectification, and the political system consolidated. Many Central Committee resolutions have outlined decisions and measures to consolidate the Party politically, ideologically, organisationally and in terms of personnel, and to enhance its leadership role. The Party as a whole has launched a Party building and rectification campaign, conducting self-criticism and criticism in the spirit of the Resolution of the sixth Central Committee Plenum (part 2), and eighth tenure. The State has carried on its building and improvement, and a step has been taken in reforming the administrative apparatus. The Fatherland Front and mass organisations have continued innovating their operations in content and mode alike. The people's right as masters has been promoted in various respects; as first steps, a number of policies and regulations guaranteeing the people's democratic rights, primarily at the grassroots, have been implemented.

External relations have been constantly broadened, and international economic integration proactively effected, yielding many good results. Our country has strengthened relations of friendship and multifaceted cooperation with socialist countries, neighbour countries and traditional friends; taken an active part in activities promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); enhanced relations with developed countries, many other nations, and regional and international organisations; maintained trade relations with over 140 countries, and investment relations with nearly 70 countries and territories, attracting considerable foreign investments.

Our Party has continued to consolidate relations of solidarity and friendship with communist and workers' parties, and national independence and progressive movements the world over; and established relations with parties in power in a number of countries. People's, socio-political, peace and friendship organisations have expanded people's diplomatic activities, both in scope and geographical area, making active contributions to the successes of our Party and State on the external relations front.

The achievements of the past 5 years have increased our aggregate strength, changed our country's physiognomy and our people's life, firmly consolidated our national independence and socialist system, and improved the status and prestige of our country on the international arena.

The roots of the above-described achievements lie in the steadfast political willpower and judicious leadership guideline of our Party; the great efforts of our State in governance and management; and the promotion of patriotism, bravery, unity, assiduity, dynamism and creativeness by our people in the continuing process of renewal and active building and safeguarding of the socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

However, there remain the following weaknesses and shortcomings in the implementation of the eighth Congress Resolution:

Economic development is still unsteady, its efficiency and competitiveness low. The economic growth rate has dropped gradually over the past five years, only to see an increase recur in 2000 but not as high as in the mid-1990s. The growth rates of GDP, average GDP per capita, industrial production, services, and export-import values have not achieved the targets set by the eighth Congress. In general, labour productivity has remained low, product quality substandard, and costs high. Many agricultural, industrial and handicraft products have found no outlets either at home or abroad, partly for lack of competitiveness. Considerable areas of forest and other resources have been seriously damaged. Smuggling, counterfeit goods and commercial frauds have affected adversely the socio-economic situation. The financial-banking system has been weak and unhealthy. Economic structural shift has been slow. Investment structure has yet to be rational; investments have suffered from fragmentation, waste and heavy losses. Foreign direct investment has decreased, while shortcomings remain in its management and regulation. The production relations are yet to be appropriate in certain respects. The State economic sector has not been consolidated commensurate with its leading role; there have been no marked changes in the arrangement, renovation and development of State enterprises. The collective economic sector has not been strong.

Solution of certain pressing and acute socio-cultural problems has been slow. The rates of urban unemployment and rural underemployment have been high, and remain for society one of the most outstanding problems. The quality of education and training has been lower than required. There have been many defects related to objectives, contents, curricula, teaching and learning methods, textbooks, examinations, training structures, and management standards; and worrisome negative practices in education and training. Training has not been linked to utilisation, causing waste. Tuition costs have been higher than the affordability of the population, especially the poor. Education and training in mountain, hinterland and remote areas have met with numerous difficulties. Scientific and technological activities have not responded properly to the requirements of industrialisation, modernisation, and national construction and defence. The environment of urban areas, industrial centres and a number of rural regions have suffered from ever-heavier pollution. Management in the fields of press, culture and publication has been loose in many respects, resulting in unhealthy trends. Certain cultural values and social ethics have been on the decline; and superstition and backward habits, on the rise. The material basis of the public health service has been insufficient and outdated, especially at the district and commune levels. There have remained harassment and negative practices in medical examination and treatment, especially for the poor.

The living standards of the population, especially farmers, have been too low in certain localities. There have remained many irrationalities in the policies on remuneration and social distribution. The rich-poor polarisation has augmented rapidly among the various regions, between urban and rural areas, and among different sections of the population. Complaining and petitioning by the people in many localities have dragged on and become complicated, but not yet timely responded to by the authorities at various levels and in different sectors.

Traffic accidents have happened at a serious magnitude. Social vices, especially drug abuse and prostitution, have been spreading. The number of HIV carriers and AIDS patients has increased. Social order and safety have not been firmly assured.

Mechanisms and policies have not been well-coordinated and have failed to generate a strong driving force for development. Certain mechanisms and policies are still lacking, inconsistent, detached from life, and unfeasible. The authorities at many levels and in many sectors have failed to replace or revise obsolete State administration regulations; to introduce new mechanisms and policies capable of vigorously releasing productive forces and better tapping the abundant resources among the different economic sectors, enterprises, regions and society as a whole. There have been instances in which judicious policies are deformed through many bureaucratic administrative layers. After the promulgation of laws, issuance of their executive normatic documents has been very slow.

Corruption and the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle of not a small segment of Party officials and members have been very serious. Protracted corruption in the political system and many economic entities has become a major danger threatening our regime's survival. Waste and bureaucratism have been rather widespread.

The Central Committee wishes to proceed with a self-criticism before the Congress and the people for having been slow in overcoming the aforesaid shortcomings, without which our achievements could have been greater.

The above-mentioned state of things has both objective and subjective causes, of which the main are subjective:

The organisation for implementation of Party resolutions, decisions and policies has been improper; discipline not rigorous. Arbitrariness, inadequate sense of organisation, discipline and responsibility, non-observance of Party directives and resolutions and State laws and policies, dishonest reporting, and violation of the principle of democratic centralism have all made it difficult for a number of Party resolutions to enter practical life. At various levels and in different sectors, guidance and regulation have been deficient, and short of control, supervision and close coordination, leading to low effectiveness and efficiency. Many major tasks have been laid down but not properly executed, or simply stopped short at lip service. Many Party officials and members and public employees who had violated laws and Party Statutes have not been dealt with rigorously.

A number of viewpoints and decisions have yet to be clarified, and uniformly perceived and thoroughly grasped by different levels and sectors. There have been among Party officials and members differences in understanding and execution related to such issues as: shaping of a socialist-oriented market economy, promotion of the leading role of the State economic sector, renovation and development of State enterprises, equitization of State enterprises, land policy, farm economy, substance of and sequencing in industrialisation and modernisation, building of an independent and autonomous economy and proactive integration into the international economy, etc.

Administrative reforms have been slow and irresolute, and results meagre. The State apparatus has been organisationally cumbersome, with overlapping functions, numerous intermediaries and harassing administrative procedures; with not few cases of disharmonious actions between higher and lower levels, and central and local authorities, hindering socio-economic development and reducing development motives. Certain individuals and agencies, due to personal or local interests, have been reluctant to step up administrative reforms and reform of the State organisation and apparatus. Not a small number of public officials and employees have been substandard both in ethics and integrity, and in job qualifications, professional capacities and vocational skills.

Ideological work, theoretical work, and organisational and personnel work have been beset with weaknesses and inadequacies. Ideological work has lacked sharpness, high combativeness, and a flexible operational method, and failed to engender a correct perception and high unanimity regarding Party guidelines and viewpoints; political and ideological education has been irregular; tough criticism and resolute struggle have not been mounted against individualism, opportunism, blurred and erroneous viewpoints, and such tendencies as "commercialisation", xenophillic imitation, and running after vulgar tastes in the press, radio, television, culture, literature, arts and publication. Ideological work has not been linked to organisational work and the formulation of mechanisms and policies. Many Party organisations have failed to exercise actual leadership over ideological work.

Theoretical study has failed to keep abreast of the development of realities and requirements of the revolution, and to clarify many important issues in the renewal process with a view to helping elaborate Party strategies, decisions and policies, and enhancing political and ideological unanimity in the society.

Organisational and personnel work has been slow in innovation, and failed to meet the requirements for strengthening the Party's leadership and the efficiency of State management and governance in the new period. In the organisation of apparatuses of the political system, especially the State administrative apparatus, there have been too many "doors", collective and individual responsibilities have not been clearly delineated, and operational quality and efficiency have been low. The functions, tasks and competence of many agencies have been duplicated; the operational mechanisms and many relationships irrational. In many places, the grassroots Party organisations have been too weak, and their combativeness poor. The recruitment, training, placement, use and evaluation of personnel have been laden with defects, and sometimes based on old approaches, prejudices and feelings; their realisation not conformed with plans, realities, procedures, democracy and attention to opinions of the masses and collectives. Control over Party officials and members has been lax. Active measures have not been taken to identify, train and groom personnel with ethics and talent.

Although certain targets set forth in the Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) have not been attained and certain tasks laid down by the eighth Congress Resolution have not been well executed, the 10 years' implementation of the Strategy for Socio-Economic Stabilisation and Development (1991-2000) have registered great and very important achievements:

Gross Domestic Product in 2000 was more than double that of 1990. The socio-economic infrastructure and productive capacity have increased enormously. Once beset with serious scarcity of goods, we have now produced enough to satisfy the essential needs of the population and the economy; the management mechanism based on bureaucratic centralism and State subsidies has been switched to a socialist-oriented market mechanism; the economy once mainly with only two sectors, State and collective, has been turned into a multisector economy, in which the State sector plays a leading role. The living conditions of the people of different strata have been improved. The country has come out of the socio-economic crisis, overcome the political shock and market contraction caused by the upheavals in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; broken up the state of blockade and embargo, broadened external relations, and proactively embarked on international economic integration; succeeded to avoid submersion in the financial-economic crisis in a number of Asian countries, despite rather heavy consequences; basically maintained socio-political stability; and enhanced national defence and security. The strength in all fields of our country has grown much greater than that 10 years ago.

The fifteen years of renewal (1986-2000) have given us many valuable experiences. The lessons on renewal drawn by the sixth, seventh and eighth Party Congresses by now still retain their great value, especially the following main lessons:

One: In the process of renewal, it is imperative to persist in the goal of national independence and socialism on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts. Confronted with difficulties, challenges and complicated changes in the world and regional situation, our Party has always tenaciously elaborated and implemented judicious renewal decisions and policies, promoted the precious traditions of the nation and achievements of the revolution, firmly maintained national independence, and advanced steadfastly toward socialism.

Two: The renewal undertaking should rely on the people, and be in the interest of the people, conformable to reality, and always creative. Renewal should proceed from the realities and life of the Vietnamese society, consult the world's positive experiences, and constitute no copy of any readymade model; it should be comprehensive, harmonious and radical, with appropriate steps, forms and ways. There should be necessary adjustments, amendments and developments in decisions, methods and measures; to identify and select new, flexible and creative solutions, to responsively get hold of what is new, take advantage of opportunities, overcome inertia, and change the situation.

The people, actively carrying out renewal in all spheres, have produced many advanced examples, successful experiences and new elements, on the basis of which the Party could sum up practical realities and develop theories to push the renewal process further forward. Renewal is an undertaking of the people, by the people and for the people. For renewal to succeed, efforts should be made to motivate all sections of the people and all economic sectors to take part.

Three: In the renewal process, the nation's strength should be combined with that of the times. Our people's renewal undertaking is taking place at a time when the world scientific-technological revolution is developing tempestuously, economic globalisation is affecting the life of nations, and the world people's struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress is unfolding vigorously. Pursuing the renewal course, our people are to take maximum advantage of the positive opportunities presented by the aforesaid trends.
Four: The Party's judicious guidelines constitute the decisive factor for the success of renewal. The initiator and leader of the renewal process, the Party should sum up practical realities, conduct theoretical studies, and improve the renewal guidelines; make constant efforts in Party building and rectification, and generate unanimity in approach, will and action in the entire Party; and exercise leadership over the organisation for implementation, formation and improvement of a clean and steady State apparatus.

III. on the path toward socialism in our country

The rich realities and the achievements recorded over the 15 years of renewal have testified to the judiciousness of the Political Programme adopted by the seventh Party Congress, while helping us perceive ever more clearly the path toward socialism in our country. Once more, we reconfirm that the Political Programme constitutes the combat banner for the successful building of Viet Nam in a gradual transition to socialism, orienting all activities of the Party at present and in the coming decades. Our Party and people are determined to build Viet Nam along the path of socialism on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts.

Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts constitute a system of comprehensive and profound theoretical and political viewpoints on the fundamental issues of the Vietnamese revolution; they result from the creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism in the specific conditions of our country, inheritance and development of the fine national traditional values, and acquirement of the quintessence of human culture. They include ideas about national liberation, class emancipation and the liberation of man; about national independence closely linked to socialism, and the nation's strength combined with that of the times; about the strength of the people and of the great national unity bloc; about the people's right as the master and building of a State genuinely of the people, by the people and for the people; about the all-people national defence and building the people's armed forces; about economic and cultural development, and constant improvement of the people's material and spiritual life; about revolutionary ethics, assiduity, thrift, integrity, righteousness, public-mindedness and selflessness; about grooming revolutionary generations for the future; about building a clean and strong Party and forging Party officials and members as both leaders and really loyal servants of the people, etc.

Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts have been illuminating the road toward victory for our people's struggle; they represent a great spiritual heritage of our Party and nation.

That Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts are confirmed as the ideological foundation and compass for action implies a major development in the perception and theoretical thinking of our Party.

The path forward of our country involves the transitional development to socialism bypassing the capitalist regime, i.e. bypassing the establishment of the dominating position of the capitalist production relations and superstructure, but acquiring and inheriting the achievements recorded by mankind under the capitalist regime, especially in science and technology, to develop rapidly the productive forces and shape a modern economy.

To build socialism bypassing the capitalist regime, thus engendering a qualitative change in all fields of society, is a very difficult and complicated undertaking that inevitably requires a long period of transition with many transitional stages and forms of socio-economic organisation. In various aspects of social life, the new and the old are interwoven and struggling with each other. Since the eighth Party Congress in 1996, our country has embarked on a new stage, that of stepped-up industrialisation and modernisation, striving to become by 2020 basically an industrialised country. During the present stage, we should continue fulfilling certain tasks left over by the previous stage.

In the period of transition, there are many forms of ownership of the means of production, many different economic sectors, social classes and strata, but the structures, characters and positions of the classes in our society have changed markedly along with the great socio-economic changes. The relationships among the social classes and strata are relations of cooperation and struggle among the population, characterised by a longlasting unity and cooperation in national construction and defence under the Party's leadership. The interests of the working class are identical with those of the entire nation in a common goal: national independence closely linked to socialism, a prosperous people, a forceful country, and an equitable, democratic and civilised society. The main substance of class struggle at the present stage consists in successfully carrying out industrialisation and modernisation along the socialist line and overcoming poverty and underdevelopment; achieving social equity, fighting oppression and injustice; preventing and surmounting negative and erroneous ideas and actions; foiling all destructive schemes and actions of hostile forces; defending national independence, and making ours a prosperous socialist country and a happy people.

The main driving force for national development lies in the great unity of the entire people on the basis of the alliance of workers with farmers and intellectuals, combining harmoniously the interests of the individual, the collective and the society, and bringing into play all potentials and resources of the various economic sectors and of society as a whole.

Our Party and State stand for the consistent and longterm exercise of the policy on developing a multisector commodity economy operating under the market mechanism, with State management and along the socialist line, in short a socialist-oriented market economy.

The socialist-oriented market economy is targeted at developing the productive forces and the economy, with a view to laying the material-technical foundations of socialism and improving the people's living conditions. The development of modern productive forces is to be linked with the shaping of new and corresponding production relations, in terms of ownership, management and distribution alike.

The socialist-oriented market economy involves many ownership forms and economic sectors, in which the State economic sector assumes the leading role; and the State economic sector together with the collective economic sector constitute an ever more solid basis.

Public ownership of the key means of production is the outcome of a developed economy with highly socialised modern productive forces; it is to be established gradually and will hold absolute superiority once socialism has been basically built. The building of such a system involves a long process of socio-economic development through many steps and forms, from lower to higher. From practical realities, probes and experiments are to be conducted to form public ownership in particular and the new production relations in general with assured steps. The fundamental criteria for evaluating performance in the formation of socialist-oriented production relations reside in the development of productive forces, improvement of the people's life, and achievement of social equity.

The socialist-oriented market economy is placed under State management. Ours is a socialist State; it manages the economy by means of laws, strategies, schemes, plans and policies; it utilises the market mechanism and applies economic forms and managerial methods of the market economy to activate production and release productive forces, promoting the positive aspects of the market mechanism while limiting and overcoming its negative aspects, and protecting the interests of the working people and the population as a whole.

The socialist-oriented market economy effects distribution mainly according to labour outcome and economic efficiency, coupled with distribution according to contributions in capital and other resources to production and business, and through social welfare.

Economic growth should be closely associated with assured social progress and equity right in each development step.

Economic growth should go along with cultural and educational development, and shaping of the Vietnamese culture which is advanced and profoundly imbued with national identity, to ensure for Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts the leading role in the people's spiritual life, to raise the people's intellectual standards, to educate and train human beings, to foster and develop the country's human resources.

Our Party's policy to shape and develop a socialist-oriented market economy reflects its thinking and concept on the correspondence between the production relations and the character and standard of the productive forces. Such is the overall economic model of our country in the period of transition to socialism.

IV. SOCIO-Economic DEVELOPMENT policy and strategy

Our Party's economic policy is: To push forward industrialisation and modernisation, build an independent and autonomous economy, turn ours into an industrialised country; to give priority to developing the productive forces, while shaping corresponding production relations along the socialist orientation; to promote to the utmost domestic resources, while taking advantage of external resources and proactive international economic integration with a view to a rapid, efficient and sustainable development; to combine economic growth with cultural development, gradually improve the material and spiritual wellbeing of the people, achieve social progress and equity, protect and improve the environment; and to combine socio-economic development with enhancement of national defence and security.

The 10-Year Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2001-2010) is targeted at the following: To bring our country out of underdevelopment, and improve noticeably the people's material and spiritual life, to lay the foundations for making ours basically a modern-oriented industrialised country by 2020. To ensure that the human resources, scientific and technological capacity, infrastructures, and economic, defence and security potentials be enhanced; the institution of a socialist-oriented market economy basically established; and the status of our country on the international arena heightened.

By 2010, GDP will have at least doubled the level of 2000; the economic and labour structures been vigorously transformed, and the ratio of agricultural labour reduced to approximately 50 percent.

The 5-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2001-2005) constitutes a very important phase in the implementation of the 2001-2010 Ten-Year Strategy, with a view to the following: To achieve a rapid and sustainable economic growth. To effect a vigorous economic and labour restructuring geared toward industrialisation and modernisation. To improve visibly the efficiency and competitiveness of the economy. To expand foreign economic relations. To generate an upsurge in education and training, science and technology, and the promotion of the human factor. To multiply job opportunities; eradicate basically hunger, reduce the number of poor households; curb social vices; stabilise and improve the people's wellbeing. To continue enhancing the socio-economic infrastructures; take a major step in establishing the institution of a socialist-oriented market economy. To maintain political stability and social order and safety, and firmly defend national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.

In the 2001-2005 5-year period, to strive for an average GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent per year.

1. To regard economic development, industrialisation and modernisation as the central task.

The road towards industrialisation and modernisation of our country should and could be shortened, with both sequential steps and frogleaps. To promote the country's advantages, make full use of every opportunity to achieve advanced technological standards, especially in information and biological technologies, apply new achievements in science and technology in increasing numbers, at an ever higher level, and on an ever wider scale, gradually develop a knowledge-based economy. To promote the intellectual resources and mental strength of the Vietnamese, regarding development of education and training, and science and technology, as both the foundation and the driving force of industrialisation and modernisation.

National industrialisation and modernisation are to ensure the building of an independent and autonomous economy, meaning primarily independence and sovereignty in political guidelines and policies, coupled with sufficiently strong economic potentials: a growing level of accumulation from within the economy; a rational economic structure and competitiveness; increasingly modernised infrastructures and certain key heavy industries; endogenous capacities in science and technology; macro Eco-financial stability; food security, and energy, financial and environmental safety, etc.. To build an independent and autonomous economy while proactively integrating into the international economy; to combine internal with external resources into an aggregrate synergy for national development.

To ensure rapid, efficient and sustainable economic development, to shift the economic and labour structures toward industrialisation and modernisation. All economic activities are to be judged by their combined impact in economic, financial, social, environmental, defence and security terms. For the immediate future, to focus on raising the production and business efficiency of enterprises, especially State enterprises, and the efficiency of capital investment and utilisation. To transform the economic and investment structures on the basis of promoting the country's strengths and comparative advantages, increasing competitiveness, and linking this to demands of domestic and external markets, of the people's livelihood, and of defence and security. To increase the purchasing power of the domestic market, expand external markets, and step up exports.

To enhance guidance over and mobilise resources needed to accelerate agricultural and rural industrialisation and modernisation. To continue developing agriculture, forestry and fishery and uplift them to a new level through applying scientific and technological advances, especially biotechnology; plan for the rational use of land; restructure vegetal and animal production, increase per-acreage unit yield; step up water conservancy expansion, mechanisation and electrification; and solve satisfactorily the problem of outlet for agro-commodities. To increase investments in the development of rural economic and social infrastructures. To develop industries, services and diverse trades, with attention paid to agriculture-support processing and mechanical engineering industries, and craft villages; shift a major part of agricultural labour to the industrial and service sectors, multiply job opportunities; upgrade human resources, and raise the living standards of farmers and other rural inhabitants.

In industry, to develop labour-intensive industries while quickly embarking on certain branches and fields with modern and high technologies. To vigorously develop industries for the processing of farm and aquatic products, and the production of garment, leatherwear, footwear, certain mechanical, electronic and software articles, etc. To selectively build a number of important heavy industry establishments producing necessary production materials to equip economic and defence branches. To efficiently exploit oil and gas, mineral and building material resources. To attach importance to developing small and medium enterprises; establish a number of large business groups to take the lead in competition and modernisation.

To forcefully develop services industries and improve their quality: commerce, including e-commerce, aviation, shipping and other forms of transportation, posts and telecommunications, tourism, finance, banking, auditing, insurance, technology transfer, legal consultancy, and market information. To universalise soon the use of informatics and the Internet in the economy and social life.

To build a synchronised and gradually modernised system of infrastructures in the fields of communications, electricity, information, water conservancy, water supply and sewage, etc.

To develop a network of urban centres, rationally apportioned among the different regions. To gradually modernise major cities, and accelerate the process of rural urbanisation. To avoid over concentration of industries and the population in big cities. To overcome traffic congestion and environmental pollution. To enhance urban planning and management, and improve architectural aesthetics.

Concerning regional development strategy, to promote the role of key economic regions with high growth rates and large accumulation; while facilitating the development of other regions by promoting their respective advantages, and linking the latter with the former for fairly high growth rates. To pay attention to socio-economic development associated with defence and security enhancement in mountain regions, ethnic minorities' areas, borderlands and islands, attaching importance to the Central Highlands, the Northwest and the Southwest. To institutionalise more support for difficulty-ridden areas to develop infrastructures and human resources, raise the people's educational levels, eradicate hunger and alleviate poverty, thus helping those areas out of underdevelopment.

To strongly develop and promote the strategic role of maritime economy combined with defence of territorial seas: to expand the cultivation, exploitation and processing of marine products, promote deep sea fishing; develop oil and gas exploitation and processing; develop high sea transport, tourism and services; develop offshore populated areas, maintain maritime security.

To gradually modernise meteorological-hydrological and geophysical research and forecast; devise plans and take active and proactive measures against natural disasters, and for search-and-rescue operations.

To ensure rational and economical utilisation of natural resources, protect and improve the natural environment, and conserve bio-diversity, regarding this as part of socio-economic development strategies, schemes, plans, programs and projects. To enhance management in all spheres and regions; strictly abide by the Law on Environmental Protection.

2. To develop a multisector economy.

To ensure the consistent implementation of the policy on developing a multisector economy. All economic sectors operating lawfully are important components of the socialist-oriented market economy, joining with each other in long-term development, cooperation and healthy competition; with the State economic sector playing the leading role, and the State and collective economic sectors gradually becoming the firm foundation of the national economy.

On the basis of the fundamental forms of ownership -- public ownership, collective ownership, and private ownership -- to shape many economic sectors with diverse, intertwined and mixed forms of business organisation.

The State economic sector is to promote its leading role in the economy, as an important material force and the instrument for State orientation and macro-regulation of the economy. State enterprises are to assume key positions; pioneer in the application of scientific and technological advances; and set examples in productivity, quality, socio-economic efficiency, and law compliance.

In the next five years, to basically complete the consolidation, rearrangement, restructuring and renewal of existing State enterprises, raise their operational efficiency, while developing in key industries and fields and important localities, enterprises where the State holds 100 percent of capital investments or dominant shares. To build a number of powerful economic groups on the basis of State corporations, with the participation of different economic sectors. To conduct properly the equitization and ownership diversification of enterprises where the State does not need to hold 100 percent of capital; to transfer, sell, contract, lease, etc. small State enterprises where the State does not need to retain its grasp; to merge, dissolve and declare bankrupt inefficient enterprises where the above-mentioned measures are inapplicable. To urgently improve the financial and labour aspects of State enterprises; consolidate and modernise to a certain extent State corporations.

To differentiate the owner's right and the right to business of the enterprise. To apply the corporate management system to enterprises operating in the forms of limited liability companies with the State as the sole proprietor and shareholding companies with the State as a shareholder; assign to the boards of directors of enterprises the right as direct representative of the owner linked with business autonomy; clearly define the authority and responsibilities of State administration agencies in relation to enterprises.

To continue renewing mechanisms and policies related to State enterprises with a view to generating a motive for development and increasing efficiency along the line that State subsidies are to be eliminated, and that enterprises are to enjoy equal competition in the market, bear full responsibility in production and business, pay due taxes, and have profits. To implement properly regulations on democracy in enterprises. To enact an appropriate mechanism for State control, supervision and inspection over enterprises.

The collective economic sector is to develop in diverse forms of cooperation, of which cooperatives constitute the core. Based on the property of members and collective property (cooperative funds for common use), cooperatives incorporate extensively workhands, production and business households, small and medium enterprises, without any limitation in terms of scale, field and location. To develop integrated multitrade or specialised business cooperatives. The State is to help cooperatives train managers, conduct scientific and technological applications and information, expand markets, set up cooperatives development support funds, and deal with bad debts. To encourage the accumulation and effective development of collective capital in cooperatives. To sum up the transformation and development of cooperatives under the Law on Cooperatives.

The individual and small-owner economic sector in both rural and urban areas assumes an important and longterm position. Facilitation and assistance are to be given by the State for this sector to develop; various forms of voluntary cooperatives are to be encouraged, to serve as satellites for enterprises or to grow bigger.

To encourage the extensive development of the private capitalist economic sector in production and business trades and industries not forbidden by the law. To create an enabling policy and legal environment for the private capitalist economy to develop according to priority orientations set by the State, including making investment overseas; turn into shareholding enterprises, selling shares to employees; engage in cooperation and joint venture with each other, with collective and State economies. To establish a good relationship between employers and employees.

To develop the State capitalist economic sector in diverse forms of cooperation and joint venture between the State economic sector and local and foreign private capitalist economies, ensure practical benefit to all business investors.

To create conditions for the foreign-invested economic sector to develop smoothly, targeted at exports, and to link socio-economic infrastructure development with attracting modern technologies and multiplying job opportunities. To improve the economic and legal environment to vigorously attract foreign investment capital.

To attach importance to developing various forms of intertwined and mixed business organisation with different ownership forms and economic sectors, local and foreign. To strongly develop forms of joint stock economic organisation in order to extensively mobilise and utilise social investment capital. To multiply models of cooperation and integration between industry and agriculture, between State enterprises and rural household economies. To develop various categories of farms in sizes conforming to the different localities.

3. To continue creating harmoniously elements of a market economy; renew State economic management and improve its effectiveness.

To accelerate the formation, development and gradual improvement of different categories of socialist-oriented markets, with special atenttion paid to important yet still non-existent or primitive markets, such as: labour market, stock market, real estate market, and science and technology market.

To develop the goods and services markets; promote the core, orientational and regulatory role of the State economic sector in the market. To meet the diverse demands and increase the purchasing power of domestic markets, both in urban and rural areas, with attention paid to markets in difficulty-ridden regions. To enter new markets abroad. To determine reasonable and effective protection duration for important products, make intensive preparations for broader integration into the international market. To limit and control business monopoly.
To expand the domestic labour market under State monitoring and supervision, protect the interests of both employees and employers; speed up organised and efficient manpower export. To complete the legal and policy system to create equal job opportunities for the working people, provide enabling and conducive conditions for them in self-employment, skills improvement, retraining, and new job learning.

To urgently organise a science and technology market, protect properly intellectual property ownership; boost the development of information and technology transfer services.

To develop rapidly and sustainably capital markets, especially longterm and medium term capital markets. To establish and operate safely and efficiently a stock market and an insurance market. To shape a dovetailed money market; enhance the convertibility of the Vietnamese currency.

To establish and develop a real estate market, including land use right as stipulated by the law; gradually open the real estate market to investments by overseas Vietnamese and foreigners.

In the coming five years, to set up a relatively well-coordinated management mechanism for a socialist-oriented market economy, overcome weaknesses, and dismantle bottlenecks.

To renew intensively and extensively the economic management mechanism, promote the positive aspects of the market mechanism, radically eliminate subsidies in business, enhance the role of the State in macromanagement and regulation, effectively combat corruption, waste, bureaucratism, and harassment.

The State is to create a conducive and equal legal environment for enterprises to compete and cooperate for development; to make use of strategies, schemes, plans and policies combined with the State's material forces to orientate socio-economic development, exploit rationally the country's resources, ensure the macrobalances of the economy, regulate incomes; exercise monitoring, supervision and inspection over all business activities as stipulated by the law, and combat smuggling, counterfeit products and commercial frauds.

To continue innovating the macromanagement instruments of the State toward the economy.

To further renew the planning, improve qualitatively the elaboration of socio-economic development strategies, schemes and plans; promote domestic and foreign socio-economic information, accounting and statistical work; and apply extensively scientific and technological achievements in forecasting and in monitoring policy implementation, at the macro and enterprise levels alike.
To ensure transparency and fairness in the State budget allocation. To effect vigorous decentralisation while enhancing local authorities' responsibility towards local budget revenues and expenditures. To match the ratio of budget spending with economic growth rate as well as economic and financial management performance. To augment budget allocations to key social targets. To raise the efficacy of national programs, concentrate funds on selected programs, and execute fruitfully programs in support of communes beset with extreme difficulties.

The State is to make budget-sourced development investments on the basis of socio-economic efficiency. To switch from the administrative mechanism of State capital lending to a market-dictated lending mechanism, and eliminate subsidies through investment credits while expanding development support funds. To improve the capital construction investment management methods, reform procedures, effect a clear-cut and distinct division of authority and responsibility in the implementation of investment projects. To enhance government debt management; update the foreign debt management mechanism to suit the new situation.

To continue reforming the tax system to adapt to the country's situation and international commitments; to simplify taxes; apply gradually a uniform tax system without discriminating domestic from foreign investment. To foster revenue sources, and ensure accurate and full tax collection as stipulated by the law. To modernise tax management by the State.

To develop the State commercial banks system into autonomous, self-accountable and prestigious currency trading enterprises capable of market competition. To eliminate administrative interferences by State agencies in State commercial banks' lending operations. To improve the supervisory capability of the State Bank and the internal control operations of commercial banks. To enact a flexible exchange rate policy responsive to foreign currency supplies and demands, gradually liberalise exchange rates under the State's macromanagement. To separate preferential State credits from commercial credits, establish policy banks.

4 - To properly solve social problems.

To implement social policies targeting at social development and betterment, practice equity in distribution, generate a forceful motive for production development, increase social labour productivity, effect equality in social relations, and encourage the people's lawful collection of wealth.

Employment generation is a fundamental social policy. By various means, to multiply new job opportunities, increase employed labour time, especially in the agricultural and rural sector. The different economic sectors are to develop potentially labor-intensive trades, production units and service entities. To pay attention to improving working conditions, ensuring labour safety and hygiene, and protecting workers from accidents and occupational diseases. To restore and develop craft villages, boost the self-establishment campaign of the youth, promote the training of skilled workhands. To ensure scrupulous organisation and management of manpower export, and protect the workers' interests abroad. To urgently expand the social insurance and safety net system. To soon elaborate and translate into practice a policy on unemployment insurance.

To radically reform the salary system concerning public officials and employees in the direction of full monetarization of salaries; revision of salaries to match income increases in society; the hierarchical salary system being to ensure reasonable correlations and encourage persons with talent and good performance. To solve irrationalities in allowances to pensioners, war invalids, sick soldiers and needy persons.

Enterprises are to enjoy autonomy in wage and bonus payment on the basis of their labour productivity and efficiency. The State and society respect the lawful income of business people.

The hunger eradication and poverty alleviation programs are to be carried out with concrete measures adapted to the situation in different localities with a view to rapidly eliminating the category of hungry households and extensively reduce the number of poor households. To continue increasing the total funds for hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, further divsersify forms of credit to the poor for production and business. To enact policies subsidising agro-product prices and developing employment and sideline occupations in order to increase incomes of farmer households. To effect social policies to provide security in life to all community members, including social insurance to workhands in the different economic sectors and social relief to unfortunate and hapless persons.

To implement a social preference policy and involve the entire people in activities "paying debts of gratitude" and "remembering the source while drinking water" in relation to revolutionary veterans, persons with meritorious services to the country, Hero Mothers, war invalids, parents, spouses and children of fallen soldiers, and entitlement families.

To press ahead with the building of rural infrastructures, such as schools, dispensaries, electricity, clean water, market places, and roads. To ensure greater investments to communes beset with extreme difficulties. To effect incentives to encourage scientific and technical personnel to work in hinterland and remote areas.

The population policy is targeted at proactive control of the size of the population and gradual improvement of its quality to meet the requirements of socio-economic development. To upgrade reproductive health care and family planning services; to tackle satisfactorily the interrelations between a rational population apportionment on the one hand and population management and human resources development on the other.

To implement in an integrated manner the policy on public health protection and care, in order to reduce morbidity rates, improve physical strength, raise life expectancy, and develop our national stock. To consolidate and improve the medical network, particularly at the grassroots. To build a number of specialised medical centres. To increase the production of pharmaceuticals, and ensure essential medicaments to all populated areas. To practice social equity in healthcare; renew the mechanisms and policies on hospital fees; enact policies on health allowances and insurance for the poor, gradually advance toward universalisation of health insurance. The State is to promulgate a national policy on traditional medicine. To combine closely modern and traditional medicines, from training to examination and treatment.

To implement the policy on child care and protection, focusing on exercise of the right of the child, enabling children to live in a safe and healthy environment and to develop harmoniously in physical, mental, spiritual and ethical terms. To ensure to orphans, defective children, and children laden with difficulties access to education and entertainment.
To launch a nationwide movement for physical training and sports, augment the physical strength and stature of the Vietnamese; widely disseminate knowledge on health self-protection. To increase State investments in high-record sports.
To enhance leadership and management of the all-people campaign to combat crimes, maintain social order and discipline, and prevent and curb social vices, especially prostitution, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS. To mold civilised and healthy lifestyles.

All social policies are to be implemented in the spirit of popularisation, upholding the sense of responsibility of the authorities at all levels while mobilising resources from among the people and the participation of people's and social organisations.

V- education & training and scientific & technological development, and building of an advanced culture deeply characterised by national identity

1- The development of education and training remains one of the important driving forces for industrialisation and modernisation, a condition for the promotion of human resources - a fundamental factor for social development, fast and sustainable economic growth.

To continue renewing and improving the comprehensive quality of teaching and learning content and methodology, school systems and education management systems; to put into practice "standardisation, modernisation and popularisation". To promote students' scientific and creative thinking, and self-conducted research capabilities, hold high their capability in self-study, self-completion of knowledge and skills, press ahead with the people's learning movement through regular and irregular forms of education, materialise "education for all", "turning the whole country into a learning society". To implement the motto "learning goes hand in hand with practice, education with practical production, and schools with the society". To attach importance to vocational orientation and categorisation by career inclination for secondary school students in preparation for young people's entry into professional labour in keeping with the economic structural shift at both national and local levels. To elaborate human resources training plans in such a way that combines intensive education with distance education and computerised education.

To take a good care of pre-school education development, expand the system of kindergartens and nursery schools to all populated locations, especially in rural and difficulty-stricken areas.

To consolidate the gains in illiteracy eradication and primary education universalisation, strive to increase the number of primary schools capable of accommodating two sessions a day at school and teaching foreign languages and informatics for students. To speed up junior secondary education universalization, facilitate an early completion of secondary education universalization by able localities through expansion of training scopes and diversification of forms of general secondary schools, specialised secondary schools and vocational schools.

To increase State budget allocations for education and training in correspondence with economic growth rates. To modernise a number of vocational schools, increase rapidly the ratio of trained labour to the total social labour force, encourage the development of people-established and private vocational institution systems, equip young people with production knowledge, work skills and capacity to absorb new technologies with a view to their self-generation of employment and proactive search for self-establishment opportunities.

To broaden rationally the scope of university education, create a visible improvement in training quality and efficiency. To concentrate investments on building the two national universities into high quality training centres; build a number of key teachers training institutions. To step by step connect schools to the Internet, facilitate on-line study and research.

To enhance the education of politics, ideology, morality and lifestyle for students. To revamp the teaching and learning of subjects on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts in universities, higher schools, specialised secondary schools and vocational schools.

To effectuate social equity in education, create conditions for the poor to realise learning opportunities, continue to build boarding schools for children of ethnic minorities, and pay attention to the right to learn of the inhabitants of the more than 2,000 poorest communes. To adopt policies on special support for gifted students in difficult living circumstances to pursue higher-level education. To elaborate plans and policies on recruiting outstanding people, special attention given to children of workers and farmers, for graduate and post-graduate education. To increase State budget allocations for sending people to countries with advanced science and technology for training. To encourage self-financed study overseas.

To realise the policy of education popularisation, diversification of various forms of training, push forward the setting-up of talent promotion funds as well as education extension and education support organisations.

In the immediate years, to solve once-and-for-all such pressing problems as streamlining of the curriculum to respond to the human resources requirements of industrialisation and modernisation; improvement of the examination system, overcoming of the education "commercialisation" tendency and prevention of negative practices in education; strict administration of the issuance of diplomas as well as recognition of titles and degrees; and redressing of the administration over the system of schools, both public and non-public.

2- Scientific and technological development, together with education and training development, constitutes a primary State policy, a cornerstone and driving force for the stepped-up national industrialisation and modernisation.

Social sciences and the humanities are to focus on answering theoretical and practical questions, forecasting development trends, laying scientific grounds for the formulation of guidelines and policies aimed at socio-economic development, human cultivation, promotion of the national cultural heritage, and creation of new Vietnamese cultural values.

Natural sciences are to focus on building up scientific grounds for the development of key technological fields and exploiting natural resources, protecting the environment, forecasting and controlling natural calamities.

Technological sciences are to focus on improving labour productivity, innovating products, heightening goods' competitiveness in the market, building up national technological capacity, creatively applying imported technologies, and step by step generating new technologies. To rapidly develop certain branches and sectors using modern technologies and high technologies (informatics, biotechnology, new materials, automation). To establish a market for technological advances, reform financial mechanisms in order to provide incentives for innovations and bind scientific and technological applications to production, business, management and services activities. To design policies encouraging and forcing enterprises to make investments in research for technological innovation.

To attach importance to basic research in sciences.

To increase State budget allocations while mobilise other resources for science and technology.

To restructure and innovate the scientific research system, coordinate closely research in natural sciences and technological sciences with that of social sciences and the humanities. To complete the construction of hi-tech parks and a system of selected national laboratories. To efficiently utilise science and technology development funds. To improve the management of sciences, exercise democracy regulations in scientific research and creation, ensure the quality of scientific research programs and projects, and overcome duplication causing waste to the State budget.

To increase international cooperation in scientific and technological research. To implement properly policies on intellectual property protection. To practice special preferential treatment for scientists with outstanding research projects; reserve incentives for scientific and technological workers operating in difficulty-ridden and rural areas; encourage scientists to keep close to production units and guide the population in their grasp and ownership of new scientific and technological knowledge.

3- The building of an advanced culture deeply imbued with national identity constitutes both the objective and the motive for socio-economic development. All cultural activities are targeted at shaping the Vietnamese man who is comprehensively developed in politics, ideology, intellect, ethics, physical strength, creativity, the sense of community, benevolence, tolerance, respect for humanity, a cultured lifestyle, a harmonious relationship with the family, community and society. Culture is to become a factor stimulating human beings' efforts for personality self-perfection, inheritance of the nation's revolutionary traditions, and promotion of the will in self-reliance and self-resilience for national construction and defence.

To quickly increase investments by the State and society for cultural development. To provide conditions for the people to increasingly uplift their levels of aesthetics and artistic enjoyment, thus becoming creators of culture and enjoyors of ever more cultural gains. To elevate the quality of the system of history museums and revolutionary museums; speed up the construction of libraries, culture houses, information houses, health clubs, playgrounds, recreation centres, etc. To conserve and promote national cultural heritage, the literary and artistic values, languages, scripts, and fine customs and habits of the country's ethnicities; to renovate historical and cultural relics and scenic beauty sites; to tap traditional folklores. To acquire the cultural quintessence of and join hands in enriching the humankind's culture. To fight the intrusion of noxious cultural products.

To ensure freedom and democracy for all cultural, literary and artistic creations, provide favourable working conditions to promote the effectiveness of art labour. Writers and artists are to uphold their sense of responsibility toward the population, the Homeland and socialism, striving for many works of high ideological and artistic values, and deeply imbued with humanism, democracy and conducive to human education and formation. Literature and arts are to encourage the true and the good in relations between man and man, man and society, man and nature; criticise the wrong and the bad, and condemn the evil and the base. To heighten the role of literary and artistic criticism in works appraisal and public opinion guidance. To keep fighting against tendencies of creation contrary to the Party's cultural and artistic policy. To take a good care of the material and intellectual life of writers and artists, particularly the elderly; reserve adequate remuneration for talented writers and artists. To attend to fostering and training a generation of young writers and artists. To ensure proper protection of copyrights.

To combine development with the effective management of the mass media system. The press and publishers should function well as disseminators of Party and State guidelines, policies and decisions; identify the new, the good and the beautiful in society, publicise examples of good people, good deeds and advanced models, criticise the negative, redress the deviated and fight the erroneous; to attach importance to upholding the truthful, educative and combative nature of information. To make use of the Internet to intensify foreign-bound information, at the same time restrain and prevent negative activities on the net. To overcome the tendency of "commercialisation" in the press and publishing activities. To improve the political and ideological willpower, the sense of responsibility, the cultural, professional and moral levels of the press and publishing staffs.

To hold aloft the sense of responsibility of the family in instilling and fostering in its members a cultured lifestyle, making the family the really sweet home for each and everyone and the healthy cell of the society. To press ahead with the campaign "The entire people unite to build a cultured life"; prevent the restoration of backward habits, and overcome the potentially expanding tendency of superstition among the public.

VI- enhancement of national defence and security

The safeguarding of the socialist Homeland includes firm defence of independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, preservation of national security, social order and safety and the culture; defence of the Party, State, people and the socialist regime; protection of the cause of renewal as well as the interests of the country and the nation.

The strength in national defence is sourced from the aggregate strength of the entire people's great unity, the whole political system under the leadership of the Party, the combination between the national strength and the strength of the times, between the strength of the all-people national defence forces and disposition and the strength of the people's security forces and disposition. To closely link economic development with national defence and security and vice versa in all socio-economic development strategies, schemes and plans. To combine national defence and security activity with foreign activity.

To strengthen national defence and firmly preserve national security and territorial integrity constitute a primordial and permanent task of the Party, State and the entire people, with the People's Army and the People's Public Security forces as the core.

To build the People's Army and the People's Public Security which are revolutionary, standardised, well-trained, gradually modernised, and steadfast in political willpower; increasingly cultured and educated; respectful of and wholeheartedly devoted to the people; absolutely loyal to the Homeland, Party and people; qualified, virtuous, healthy and simple in lifestyle; succeeding to and promoting glorious traditions; capable of victoriously commanding and combating in whatever circumstances; enjoying increasing combat readiness and combativeness; smashing timely all schemes and acts of encroachment on the Homeland's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and national security; preventing and foiling dangerous crimes and social vices, and ensuring properly social order and safety.

To build socio-political bases, and an all-people national defence and people's security disposition; to attach importance to building up the disposition in vital strategic localities; and to build up the militia, self-defence and public security forces for the safeguarding of the bases.

To further improve the legal system on the duty to defend the Homeland. To enhance State administration in the field of national defence and security nationwide as well as in individual localities and units, incorporating this duty into formal training programs for public officials and employees. To institutionalise Party guidelines and policies on building an all-people national defence and people's security.

To adequately invest in building the defence industry, and equip the army and public security forces with sophisticated techniques. To make full use of civil industrial capacity in service of national defence and security. To gradually improve the material and spiritual living standards of the armed forces, implement properly policies toward families of members of the People's Army and People's Public Security forces.

To constantly strengthen the Party's absolute, direct and allsided leadership over the People's Army and People's Public Security, and over the national defence and security.

VII- Foreign relations expansion and proactive international economic integration

To consistently implement the foreign policy of independence, sovereignty, openness, multilateralization and diversification of international relations. Viet Nam is prepared to be a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the international community, striving for peace, independence and development.

Our task in the field of foreign relations consists in the continued preservation of a peaceful environment and creation of favourable international conditions for accelerated socio-economic development, national industrialisation and modernisation, construction and defence of the Homeland, and ensured national independence and sovereignty, as well as active contribution to the common struggle of the world's people for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress.

To broaden the multifaceted, bilateral and multilateral relations with all countries and territories, major international political and economic centres, and international and regional organisations on the principles of respect for one another's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, non-use or threat to use of force; equality and mutual benefit; settlement of disagreements and disputes by means of peaceful negotiations; and neutralisation of all attempts and acts of pressure, imposition and big-power policy.

To proactively integrate into the international and regional economies in the spirit of maximising our internal strength, raising international cooperation efficiency, ensuring independence, autonomy and the socialist orientation, safeguarding national interests and national security, preserving national cultural identity, and protecting the environment. The Government, all the ministries, agencies and enterprises are to soon design and execute respective international economic integration plans with rational roadmaps and concrete programmes of action, promoting the initiativeness of the ministries, agencies and enterprises; to press ahead with a shift in economic structures and renewal in socio-economic management mechanisms, further complete the legal system, and improve the competitiveness of enterprises and the economy as a whole.

To set store by and develop our relations of friendship and cooperation with socialist countries and neighbouring countries. To improve the efficiency and quality of our cooperation with ASEAN members, together to build Southeast Asia into a peaceful, nuclear weapon free, stable, cooperative and mutually developing zone.

To continue expanding our relations with traditional friendly countries, national independence countries, and developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, as well as with Non-Aligned Movement countries, support each other for shared development and coordinate with one another for the protection of each other's legitimate interests.

To push forward our diverse relations with developed countries and international institutions. To increase activity at multilateral fora.

To actively participate in the settlement of global issues. To support and join the world's people in the struggle for a total elimination of nuclear weapons, biological weapons and all other modern war facilities of mass destruction, in defence of peace, against the war danger and arms race; respect the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of each nation of the world to choose her own path of development; contribute to the establishment of a democratic and equitable international political and economic order.

To consolidate and intensify our relations of solidarity and cooperation with communist and workers' parties, left parties, national liberation and independence movements, and revolutionary and progressive movements in the world.

To continue expanding our relations with ruling parties.

To further broaden international people-to-people relations, enhance bilateral and multilateral relations with people's organisations in other countries, improve the efficiency of our cooperation with national and international non-governmental organisations, contributing to better understanding, closer friendship and cooperation between ours and other peoples in the region and the world over.

To enhance the research-supporting information, forecast effectively the regional and world situations with a view to the timely formulation of appropriate foreign policies and guidelines in response to changes. To further enhance the foreign-bound informational and cultural activities.
To nurture and forge political willpower, qualifications, morality and dignity for the pool of foreign relations personnel, including the foreign economic relations staff.

To ensure organic coordination among the State's diplomatic activity, the Party's external activity and the international people-to-people activity. To further improve a unified mechanism for the administration of foreign activities, thus constituting an aggregate strength to carry out fruitfully our tasks in foreign activity, helping the world understand better the land, people and renewal process of Viet Nam, the guidelines and policies of our Party and State, and in return winning over the world's ever growing sympathy, support and cooperation.

VIII- promotion of the great national unity strength

Inheriting the precious traditions of the nation, our Party has always upheld the banner of great national unity, regarding it as a strategic policy, a great source of strength and driving force for national construction and defence. The building up of the great national unity bloc is the responsibility of the whole political system and the entire society.

The great unity should embrace people of all ethnicities, religions, classes, strata, economic sectors, sexes, age groups, regions of the country, members and non-members of the Communist Party, in-service and retired, all members of the great family of the Vietnamese nation, be they residing at home or overseas. To promote the power of the whole national community, traditional patriotism and national pride, taking the goal of maintaining independence and national unity, and striving for a prosperous people, a strong country, an equitable, democratic and civilised society as the common denominator; respect those differences which are not opposed to the nation's common interests, get rid of complexes, prejudices and discriminations based on one's past, class or category, and cultivate a spirit of openness, mutual trust and future-targeted vision. The great national unity bloc in the Viet Nam Fatherland Front is to be constantly consolidated and developed far and wide on the foundation of the solid alliance of the working class with the peasantry and the intelligentsia.

To build the great national unity bloc in association with the promotion of democracy in social life under the Party's leadership. To ensure democracy in the political, economic, cultural and social fields, at all levels and in all sectors.

State policies and laws exert direct influence on the implementation of the great national unity and democracy in the society. To formulate in a synchronised manner sound socio-economic policies, promoting all the potentials of creativity among the population. To renew and complete specific policies toward the various classes, strata, ethnicities, religions, particularly policies on socio-economic development, distribution, consumption, ensuring citizens' interests and responsibilities, etc.

Concerning the working class, to attach importance to its quantitative and qualitative development, improvement of political consciousness and willpower, educational and work qualifications, intellectualisation of workers, and improvement of capacity to apply and innovate new technologies; work with increasing productivity, quality and efficiency, worthy of its being a pioneer in national industrialisation and modernisation and its leadership role in the revolution in the new stage. To protect the interests, improve the material and spiritual living conditions of the working class in the conditions of the market mechanism. To intensify the training of leaders and managers, and the admission of outstanding workers into the Party; increase the proportion of workers in leading positions at all levels and in all agencies.

As regards the peasantry, to nurture maximally the rural people's energy and promote its role in the process of renewal, concentrate guidance and necessary resources for agricultural industrialisation and modernisation and rural development; to implement properly policies on land, comprehensive agricultural development, cash crops marketing, production insurance and social insurance; promote the respective advantages of different regions, help disadvantaged regions; apportion the population in conformity with plans, develop occupations and craft, generate employment, abolish hunger and reduce poverty, improve the livelihood, uplift the people's intellectual level, and build up a new type of countryside.

Concerning the intelligentsia, to provide them with favourable conditions to acquire information, access new achievements of the world's science, technology and culture, and raise their political knowledge and professional expertise. To encourage freedom of creation, innovation and contribution. To locate, foster, utilise properly and remunerate duly talents. To promote the capabilities of intellectuals in the implementation of the State's research programmes and projects and elaboration of guidelines, decisions, policies and laws.

Regarding the young generation, to attend to their education, upgradation and training with a view to their allsided development in political, ideological, ethical, lifestyle, cultural, physical health and professional terms; to generate employment, develop their talent and creativity, and bring into play their role as shock forces in national construction and defence.

As for women, to implement properly laws and policies on gender equality, groom and train them in terms of profession and general knowledge; elaborate mechanisms and policies for them to increasingly participate in leading and managerial structures at all levels and in all sectors; take care of and protect maternal and child health; and create conditions for women to fulfil their endowed functions as mothers; and build abundant, equal, progressive and happy families.

Concerning war veterans, to promote the nature and traditions of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", actively involve in building and safeguarding the Party, administration, and socialist regime; help each other improve living standards; contribute to educating revolutionary traditions and heroism for the younger generations.

Regarding revolutionary veterans, people with meritorious services to the country, retired employees, and the elderly, to apply the policy of paying debts of gratitude, attend to their health, and improve their spiritual and material livelihood in the new circumstances; meet their need for information, make good use of their ability to participate in the political life of the country and in social activities; set by themselves good examples, help educate the revolutionary ideals and traditions for youth and children.

Concerning entrepreneurs, to elevate their role and responsibility toward national industrialisation and modernisation, and socio-economic development; encourage and create an enabling environment for them to operate and compete in line with the law; and effect commendations of various forms in recognition of the efforts of good business managers.

The ethnicity and ethnic unity issue has always been of strategic importance in the revolutionary cause. To execute properly policies on equality, unity, mutual assistance and joint development among all ethnic groups; build up social and economic infrastructures, develop goods production, attend to their material and spiritual livelihood, eradicate hunger and alleviate poverty, improve the people's educational levels, preserve, enrich and promote the cultural identities and fine traditions of all ethnic groups; realise social equity among ethnic groups and between the highlands and the lowlands, reserve special care for difficulty-stricken areas, former revolutionary and resistance bases. To actively implement preferential policy on the training and grooming of minority-origin personnel. To encourage and promote the role of prominent and prestigious persons among ethnic groups and in their localities. To fight ethnic discrimination and division; combat greater-nation mentality, narrow-minded nationalism, and extremist nationalism; and overcome ethnic inferior complexes.

Faiths and religions constitute the spiritual need of a segment of the population. To implement a consistent policy of respecting and guaranteeing the right to freedom of belief, freedom of religion and non-religion, as well as the right to normal religious practices as stipulated by the law. To rally compatriots of different religions, religious and non-religious compatriots. To attend to their economic and cultural development and living standards improvement. Religious believers and dignitaries are obliged to fulfil their duties as citizens toward the Homeland, leading "a good life in both civic and religious terms", promoting the fine cultural and ethical values of religions. To step by step complete legislation on faiths and religions.

To strictly prohibit abuse of issues related to ethnicity, faith and religion to act against State laws and policies, provoke divisions among the population and ethnicities, cause unrest, and encroachment upon national security.

Overseas Vietnamese constitute an inseparable part and a source of strength of the Vietnamese national community. The Party and State are to provide them with information about the country's situation, protect their legitimate interests, help raise their patriotism and civic responsibilities, their sense of community, their spirit of national self-respect and pride, preserve the cultural identity and fine traditions of the Vietnamese nation, respect the laws of countries of their residence, and contribute to tightening the relations of solidarity and friendship with people of other countries. To formulate policies facilitating their home visits and expansion of their activity in culture, education and training, science and technology, production and business, thus making practical contributions to national construction.

The Viet Nam Fatherland Front and mass organisations have a very important role to play in the great national unity for the construction and defence of the Homeland, accelerating national industrialisation and modernisation; to promote democracy and raise the civic responsibility of their members, maintain social order and discipline, push ahead the process of renewal, tighten the interrelationship between the people and the Party and State. The people are to exercise both direct democracy and representative democracy through State agencies, people's deputies, and the Fatherland Front and mass organisations. The Party and State are to design and complete regulations so that the Fatherland Front and mass organisations can bring into play the right of the people as masters taking part in socio-economic development, translate into practice the motto "the people know, discuss, execute and control", through which to enhance the national unity and consolidate the political and spiritual unanimity in the society.

The Viet Nam Fatherland Front and its affiliates constitute the political foundation for the people's power, a venue whereby to express the will, aspiration and rally of the great national unity, helping build a clean and strong State; promote its capacity in the elections of the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels; formulate guidelines, policies and laws, disseminate them among the population and persuade the latter to implement the Party's guidelines and State's policies and laws; take part in Party building and rectification, exercise the people's supervision over the work as well as the morality and lifestyle of Party officials and members, public employees, elected deputies and State agencies; settle disputes among the population.

To broaden and diversify forms to involve the people in mass organisations, social organisations, and professional, cultural, friendship, charity and humanitarian associations. To soon promulgate a law on associations.

To continue renewing modes of operation of the Fatherland Front and mass organisations, overcoming their officialisation, showiness, formalism, bureaucratism and aloofness from the population. To properly implement the Law on the Viet Nam Fatherland Front. To launch people's patriotic emulation movements, united to build a new life in residential quarters, cultivate a cultured life, ensure social order and safety, in linkage with socio-economic development programmes and plans on the national, local and residential quarter scales. To vigorously turn activities to the grassroots, communities and families.

IX- acceleration of reform of state organisation and operation, promotion of democracy and enhancement of legislation

1- To build the law-governed socialist State under the Party's leadership. Our State is a mainstay of the political system and the main instrument to put into practice the people's right as masters, and is a law-governed State of the people, by the people and for the people. The State power is unified, with a division of responsibilities and coordination of work among State agencies in the exercise of legislative, executive and judicial powers. The State governs the society by means of laws. All agencies, organisations, public officials and employees, and citizens are obliged to abide by the Constitution and laws.

To reform the State's organisation and operation in close linkage with Party building and rectification, renewal of the substance and mode of the Party's leadership over the State. To build the State apparatus refined and compact; raise the performance of Party organisations and members in State agencies.

2- To reform the State's institutions and operational modes. To improve the National Assembly's organisation, renew its operational modes and elevate its performance; to undertake as the key task the enhancement of law-making, design of law-making agendas, completion of the legal system as well as renewal of the processes of law enactment and executive guidance. The National Assembly is to exercise properly its functions of taking decisions on important issues of the country, deciding over and allocating the State budget, practising its authority of supreme oversight on the entire activity of the State, and for the time being, on such pressing issues as utilisation of State funds and assets, and combat against corruption and bureaucratism.

To soon study and propose to the National Assembly the revision and amendment of certain articles of the 1992 Constitution in order to adapt to the new situation.

To build a democratic, clean, strong and gradually modernised State administration. To readjust the functions and reform the operational modes of the Government along the direction of the latter unifying the macro-administration over the implementation of tasks in the political, economic, cultural, social, defence, security and foreign relations fields all over the country through the comprehensive and synchronised system of laws and policies. To clearly define the ministries' functions, tasks and powers along the direction of ministries responsible for nationwide multisectoral and multidisciplinary administration, and for the provision of public services.

To decentralise and delegate more authority to the local governments, raise their initiativeness, combine closely sectoral management with territorial administration, realise scrupulously the principle of democratic centralism; to rationally organise People's Councils; and to improve specialised agencies of People's Committees and administrative machineries of rural communes, urban wards, and townships.

To reform the organisation, and improve the quality and performance of judicial agencies, enhance the sense of responsibility of judicial agencies and staff in investigation, arrest, imprisonment, detention, prosecution, trial, and court decision execution, avoid unjustifiable or inaccurate cases. The people's procuratorates are to effectively implement its prosecutorial and procuratorial functions over judiciary activities. To restructure the system of people's courts, rationally delineate powers of courts at all levels. To reinforce the pool of judges and people's jurors both quantitatively and qualitatively. To reorganise investigatory and enforcement agencies on the principle of "less doors". To establish judiciary police.

To streamline the staff of State agencies.

3- To promote democracy, maintain discipline and order, and enhance legislation. To raise the qualifications of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils, and complete rules on election and standing for election, on criteria and composition of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils on the basis of genuine promotion of democracy. To increase the proportion of full-time National Assembly deputies. To implement properly regulations on democracy at the grassroots, facilitating the people's participation in social management, discussion and decision of major issues. To overcome all manifestations of formalistic democracy. To elaborate a law on referendum.

To take a good care of human beings, protect all the people's lawful rights and interests; respect and implement international conventions on human rights which Viet Nam has signed or acceded to.

To renew mechanisms and define responsibilities of the various levels, agencies, public officials and employees in timely tackling complaints and denunciations lodged by citizens.

To uphold democracy in parallel with maintaining discipline and order, and enhancing legislation, governing the society by means of laws, disseminating laws, and educating and raising the sense of law compliance for the entire people.

4- To foster a pool of clean and qualified public officials and employees. To complete the public service regime, regulations on public officials and employees, paying attention to both capacity and morality; to ensure the seriousness and honesty in examinations to recruit public officials and employees. To train and groom public officials and employees, those in leading and managerial positions in the first place, in terms of Party and State decisions and policies, as well as in the State administrative managerial expertise and skills. To rearrange the corps of public officials and employees in line with nomenclature and standardisation. To periodically examine and assess qualifications of public officials and employees, timely replace substandard and degenerate public officials and employees. To reinforce personnel for the grassroots. To adopt policies and regulations on the training, grooming and remuneration for the personnel in rural communes, urban wards and townships.

5- To fight corruption. To strengthen the organisation and mechanism, continue intensifying the fight against corruption within the State apparatus and the whole political system, at all levels and in all sectors, from the centre down to the grassroots. The fight against corruption is to be associated with that against wastefulness, bureaucratism, smuggling, and particularly abuses of positions and powers for illegal accumulation of wealth.

To amend and complete the Party and State's mechanisms, policies, regulations and rules on eco-financial management and public property administration, avoid loopholes which may be abused by ill-willed elements.

To continue abolishing troublesome administrative procedures, especially in areas and links conducive to corruption and harassment. To conduct inspection, examination, inventory and control, and ensure transparency in the use of the State budget, public assets, and the finances of the Party, mass organisations and State enterprises, and funds contributed by the public or assisted by foreign entities.

All Party members and cells, the Fatherland Front, mass organisations, mass media and the entire society are to be responsible for overseeing and controlling public officials and employees, as well as for detecting and denouncing corrupted elements. To rigorously deal with in accordance with State law and Party Statutes those Party officials and members and public employees regardless of their hierarchical positions and operational fields abusing positions and powers for corruption. To undertake concrete measures to protect and reward those determinedly fighting corruption.

To radically reform the salary system, improve salary-earners' livelihood, and fight against privileges.

To constantly educate Party officials and members and public employees in political, ideological and revolutionary ethical terms.

To strictly abide by the prohibitions toward public officials and employees, first of all key cadres and managers. Leaders at all levels, in all sectors, agencies, units and State enterprises are to declare their own and families' assets (real estates, business, stocks, etc.). To timely inspect, come to conclusion and apply disciplinary measures to public officials and employees with unjustifiable assets.

To consider criminal responsibility or relevant disciplinary measures applicable to leaders of agencies or units with major cases of corruption causing serious consequences.

X- building and rectification of the party, improvement of its leadership capacity and combativeness

All the achievements and weaknesses recorded throughout the process of renewal, and in national construction and defence, are closely linked with our Party's leadership responsibility as well as with the strengths and shortcomings in Party building.

Since the eighth National Congress, our Party has made considerable efforts in implementing the key task of Party building and rectification and the central task of economic development. The sixth Central Committee Plenum (part 2) of the eighth tenure approved the Resolution on some fundamental and pressing issues in Party building and launched a Party building and rectification campaign; effectuated self-criticism and criticism among all Party committees, organisations and key officials from the centre down to the grassroots. After nearly two years of its execution, initial positive results and experience have been scored, but the campaign has failed to meet the planned requirements.

In Party building, apart from strengths, there have been emerging weaknesses and shortcomings, especially shortcomings in educating and fostering Party officials and members, failure to curb and roll back their ideological, political, moral and lifestyle degradation. A number of Party organisations at various levels have not been rectified; democracy has been violated, discipline and order loosened, internal unity fissured; and Party activity has been declined in quality. Ideological and theoretical work has remained weak and inadequate; organisational and personnel work has shown signs of inertia. The renewal of the Party leadership mode has revealed confusion, failing to highlight the characteristics and requirements of the Party's leadership in the conditions of a Party in power, unable to bring into full play the effectiveness of State agencies' management, activism of mass organisations and the people's right to mastery. Guidance over the implementation of Party resolutions and State laws as well as its inspection has remained a weak link.

These shortcomings are due to many objective and subjective reasons, but directly and mainly due to the fact that in many Party committees and organisations, including in the Central Committee and Political Bureau, despite numerous efforts in Party building and rectification, the guidance has not been focal and resolute; policies and measures not concerted; and attention not adequate in guidance over combining self-criticism and criticism with organisational improvement, policy and mechanism renewal, rectification of economic and financial management, and enhancement of education and administration of Party officials and members, etc.

In the years to come, the entire Party is to continue implementing all the Party resolutions on Party building, especially the sixth Central Committee Plenum (part 2) Resolution (eighth tenure), concentrating on carrying out successfully the following important tasks:

1- To conduct ideological and political education, forge revolutionary ethics, and combat individualism. The entire Party is to seriously study Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts. Each Party committee and cell is to plan for periodic reviews of its implementation of Ho Chi Minh's Testament in raising revolutionary morality, fighting individualism. To fight opportunistic and vulgar pragmatic ideas. Basing ourselves on the review of the two years' execution of the Party building and rectification campaign, to continue to turn self-criticism and criticism in Party committees and organisations from the centre to the grassroots into regular and periodic practices rather than perfunctoriness or formality; to mobilise the population to make comments and criticisms on Party officials and members.

To strongly push ahead the fight against corruption and bureaucratism to clean the rank of Party members. Grassroots Party committees and cells are to organise, direct and examine Party members in the latter's study, constant improvement of their political awareness, general education, profession, specialisation, expertise in leadership, management and mass mobilisation, and promotion of their exemplary and pioneering role. Party officials and members in any position are to strictly comply with the Party's Political Programme, Statutes and resolutions as well as State laws. All violations of principles, especially those related to Party viewpoints, guidelines, policies and decisions, must be duly disciplined. In economic activity, Party members are to scrupulously abide by State laws and Party regulations.

To complete the organisation and personnel in agencies and units with manifestations of improper execution of Party resolutions and State laws, inertia, arbitrariness, authoritarianism, factionalism, and internal disunity. To consolidate and uplift the operational quality of organs responsible for Party control, State inspection and people's inspection. To continue attaching importance to and exercise properly the work of internal political protection.

To intensify practical experience reviews, theoretical studies, democratic discussion, soon clarify and come up with conclusions on new and urgent issues emerging from reality; step by step concretise, amend and develop the Party's guidelines and policies; and fight against erroneous ideological tendencies.

2- To continue renewing personnel work. To foster the contingent of personnel, leading and managerial personnel at all levels in the first place, who are steadfast politically, exemplary ethically, clean in lifestyle, intelligent, knowledgeable, capable of practical activity, and attached to the population. To effectuate mechanisms and policies to locate, recruit, train and groom the personnel; and to treasure and properly utilise the virtuous and the talented. To implement properly the principle of the Party exercising unified leadership over personnel work and administration of the contingent of personnel, coupled with upholding the responsibility of the organisations and their leaders in the political system regarding personnel work. To properly effect planning and generating sources of personnel, attention given to females and members of ethnic minorities, and specialists in different fields.

To assess and utilise properly personnel on the basis of standardisation, taking their actual performance and public credibility as the main measurement; to base personnel recruitment on scientific methodologies, objectivity, public-mindedness, well-organised processes, promoted democracy, and reliance on the collective and the people. To renew and rejuvenate the pool of leading and managerial personnel, incorporate personnel of different age brackets, and ensure continuity, succession and development.

To realise the policy of rotating leading and managerial personnel as planned among agencies and localities; key personnel at district and higher levels are to hold a leading position in one unit no longer than two terms of service; to overcome the closed sectionalistic mentality in units, sectors and localities.

To build and rectify the system of political academies, schools and centres, improve their training quality and efficiency, groom personnel, first of all leading and managerial personnel at all levels; combat negative practices in teaching and learning. To strive so that by 2005 the majority of key leaders at district and higher levels will have accomplished an advanced political theoretical program and achieved university-level education on a certain specialisation.

3- To build and consolidate grassroots Party organisations. All grassroots Party organisations and cells are to firmly grasp and properly exercise their function as the political leadership nucleus for the administration, mass organisations, economic and public service delivery entities, as well as for all aspects of activity and all strata of population at the grassroots, improving their combativeness while overcoming the state of passivity, dependence, and relaxation of their leadership role. Party committees at higher levels are to concentrate their direction on consolidating weak Party organisations and cells, timely complete Party committees and reinforce personnel in places with numerous difficulties and internal disunity. To upgrade the quality of the activity of Party committees and cells. To assign tasks to Party members, guide and monitor their execution, and promote their pioneering and exemplary role in work, study and lifestyle; to maintain connection with non-Party members at work places, and with Party cells and population at places of residence. To admit duly qualified people into the Party as required, at10tion given to outstanding workers, intellectuals and working people of different economic sectors, members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and places with few or without Party members. To renew the analysis and evaluation of the quality of Party organisations and members.

4-To further complete the Party's organisation and innovate its leadership modes. To promote democracy in Party life, from Party cells and grassroots committees to the Central Committee, in personnel work, and in the elaboration and completion of Party guidelines, decisions and policies. Party members are entitled to make reservations but obliged to conform to Party resolutions in their words and deeds. To fight formalistic democracy, extremist democracy or abuse of democracy in pursuit of personal, localistic and sectionalistic benefit.

Each Party organisation is to preserve unity and unanimity among its leadership collective. As for Party committees and organisations encroaching upon the principle of democratic centralism and whose leaders operating arbitrarily, tyrannically, sectionalistically, and causing internal disunity, Party committees at higher levels must guide reviews as to make clear the causes, properly deal with offenders, improve the organisation and personnel; wherever redress is impossible, the existing organisation must be dissolved and a new organisation set up as stipulated by the Party's Statutes.

To enhance the Party's leadership role and continue renewing its modes of leadership over the State. The Party's leadership over the State is done through its elaboration of major development-oriented guidelines, decisions and policies as well as examination over the implementation of Party guidelines and decisions and State Constitution and laws. Major issues related to guidelines, decisions and policies, and to organisational and personnel matters are to be democratically discussed, voted on, and collectively resolved according to the majority rule by the Party Central Committee, Party committees, Party caucuses and Party designated representations. To intensify the regime of collective leadership in parallel with promoting the spirit of individual initiativeness, creativeness and accountability.

To further improve the Party's organisational system in close association with the reform and renewal of the organisation and machinery of State agencies and social-political organisations. To restructure the organisation and upgrade the performance of Party commissions, Party caucuses in State agencies, Party designated representations in people's organisations, and Party committees of the central-level public agency and Party commission groupings in line with the spirit of the seventh Central Committee Plenum Resolution (eighth tenure). To bring into play the role and responsibility of Party organisations, members and Party committee members employed in State agencies in the study and formulation of Party guidelines and policies. To continue applying the policy of Party committees nominating their secretaries or deputy secretaries for election to People's Councils and to presidencies of the People's Councils at corresponding levels.
Party committee members, particularly key officials, should design plans to work at the grassroots, meet with, listen to and answer queries of Party members and the people; Party committees are to hold periodic working sessions with executive committees of mass organisations, respect and promote the right to mastery, the initiative and creative role of the Fatherland Front and mass organisations. To attend to building the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union strong, bringing into play its role as the shock force and reserves succeeding to the long-lasting revolutionary cause of the Party.

To lead the renewal of and enhance the inspection by the Government and executive bodies; promote the supervisory role of the National Assembly, People's Councils, Fatherland Front and mass organisations in accordance with their respective functions and authority. To intensify examination by Party committees and control commissions at various levels, concentrating on the following main contents: implementation of Party and State resolutions, guidelines and policies; execution of the principle of democratic centralism and work regulations; consolidation of internal unity, education, self-forging, and improvement of qualifications and revolutionary morality for Party officials and members.

The ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam is a Congress of Wisdom, Democracy, Unity and Renewal, displaying the staunch willpower and great hope of our entire nation at this grand historical moment of entry into the new century and millennium.

Our entire Party, people and army are determined to bring into play the Party's and nation's glorious traditions and revolutionary heroism, persist in the goals of national independence and socialism, seize opportunities, surmount challenges, strive for the success of national industrialisation and modernisation, for a prosperous people, a strong country, an equitable, democratic and civilised society, advancing steadfastly toward the future.--VNA