On the morning of February 22 in Hanoi, amid celebrations marking the Party and the Lunar New Year (Tet), he attended and delivered remarks at the launch of the 2026 “Tet trong cay” (Tree-Planting Festival) in gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, an annual spring activity and a long-standing cultural tradition.

This year’s launch was organised simultaneously across 126 communes and wards in Hanoi and connected online to four additional locations nationwide.

The broad participation reflects the determination to build a greener, more cultured, civilised and modern capital, and reinforces solidarity and responsibility toward the community and a sustainable future, particularly in the current era of national advancement.

In the first planting campaign this spring, Hanoi aims to plant between 80,000 and 100,000 trees by the end of March and about 400,000 trees in 2026. The Ministry of National Defence plans to plant around 1.2 million trees, while the Ministry of Public Security will plant more than 3 million trees. These figures will not stop there and are set to rise further.

In his remarks, the Party chief recalled that on the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1960, President Ho Chi Minh planted a banyan tree at Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi, formally launching the Tree-Planting Festival with the message: “Spring is the Tree-Planting Festival, making the country ever more springlike,” and that the activity is “low in cost but high in benefit.”

After 66 years, the movement has become a nationwide spring tradition. Planting one more tree means placing one greater confidence in the future.

He noted that although much has been done in environmental protection, many tasks remain. Climate change is becoming more severe, natural disasters more complex, and forests in some areas continue to be encroached upon.

Tree planting must therefore continue on a broader scale, combined with proper care and forest protection. Each locality should choose suitable species, plant them in appropriate locations and ensure long-term management. Love for nature must be nurtured in every individual, especially among the younger generation.

He stated clearly that economic development must not come at the expense of the environment. Building a modern city must also preserve its green lungs for the people. He called on Party organisations, authorities and the people of the capital to fully implement this principle.

He stressed the need to move from awareness to concrete action and that campaigns must not be organised in a formalistic or wasteful manner.

“I emphasise the principle that every tree planted must survive and grow well. Tree planting must be aligned with planning and integrated into the development of green, smart and modern urban infrastructure. We must firmly prevent the practice of abandoning projects halfway, which wastes State and public resources. Building a cultured, civilised and modern capital must begin with the living environment. Hanoi should lead the country in green space per capita and public green areas,” he said.

He added that this is an important criterion for assessing quality of life. Party committees and administrations at all levels must treat the development of green spaces and water surfaces as a key task in urban planning and must firmly reject proposals that sacrifice green areas for unsustainable commercial projects. Hanoi should strive to become a “city within a forest, and a forest within the city.”

He also called on every cadre, Party member and resident of the capital, especially young people, to regard tree planting and care as a practical way to follow President Ho Chi Minh’s example and demonstrate responsibility to the community and future generations.

Planting trees today is planting seeds of happiness for the future, contributing to Vietnam’s commitments to the international community on net-zero emissions and climate change response, and helping build a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Hanoi worthy of its role as the country’s political and administrative centre and its heart.

NA Chairman attends ceremony to launch Youth Month, tree-planting festival

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on February 25 attended a ceremony to launch the Youth Month 2024 and tree-planting festival at the Truong Bon National Historical Relic Site in Do Luong district, the central province of Nghe An.