The congress will debate the plan for the country’s economy, politics, culture, social affairs, national defence and security, and diplomacy for the next five and ten years. Particularly, a new leadership board of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee (CPVCC) will be selected at the Congress. Following the Party congress, National Assembly and People’s Council elections will be launched to form a new government.

In other words, in 2011, the whole country’s State and government apparatus, from central to grassroots levels, will be renewed and strengthened. This event has captured the attention of cadres, Party members and people throughout the country.  The issue of personnel selection, especially qualified leaders is crucial in promoting the Doi Moi (Renewal) process and building Party policies and State laws to address the questions in current conditions.

Therefore, the success of the CPVCC’s 14th conference (10th tenure) demonstrated through the Party leader’s closing speech on the outcomes of the conference, built a strong basis for the 11th National Party Congress to meet people’s aspirations.

People have pinned their hopes on a new generation of leaders to make wise decisions to deal with huge challenges, boost the socio-economic development to build people’s confidence in the nation’s future.

After nearly a quarter of a century of the renewal process, Vietnam has developed a large-scale economy with more than US$100 billion and has comprehensively integrated into the international economic and political community. Vietnam is now able to deal with external and internal issues in an appropriate and flexible way. As a result, its international status has been elevated and people’s living standards have improved significantly. From a poor country, Vietnam has become a middle-income nation.

However, as we climbed to a higher level of development, we face new challenges, much different from those 25 years ago. They are instability of the national economy, environmental pollution, the ineffective use and rapid exhaustion of natural resources, poor infrastructure, shortages of human resources and corruption. If these challenges are handled well, further development will only be possible.

In addition, Vietnam’s development level remains low compared with other countries. In the region, China, Thailand, Singapore, Laos and Cambodia have higher economic growth rates. This means that Vietnam is still lag behind. Therefore, the country needs to make greater efforts to move forward based on the nation’s firm spirit and the Party’s clear-sighted leadership.

All delegates at the 11th National Party Congress need to engage in a democratic discussion, bring into full play the Party’s constructive spirit of criticism and self-criticism, mobilise all resources to draw a roadmap for future national development and select talented and virtuous people to the Party Central Committee.

A new year has come and a new Spring is approaching, giving the country’s renewal process a fresh impetus and bright prospects.