Prominent among those present at the ceremony were State President Nguyen Minh Triet, former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, and Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam.

Other Party members and municipal authorities also joined the event, along with revolutionary veterans, heroic Vietnamese mothers, and heroes of the armed forces and labour.

Addressing the ceremony, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan affirmed that the Great Spring Victory in 1975 was fought for the national, social and human liberation of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh.

Ho Chi Minh City has overcome many difficulties in its struggle for renewal to create a heroic, civilised and modern socialist city worthy of being named after President Ho Chi Minh.

The city is determined to implement the Party resolutions and organise the 13th National Assembly and People’s Council’s elections at all levels for the 2011-2016 term. It is also trying to control inflation, stabilise the macro-economy and ensure social welfare in order to boost production, recover economic growth and improve people’s lives.

The same day, President Triet, along with Party and government and municipal officials, laid a wreath at the city’s Martyrs’ Cemetery.