14th National Congress of Communist Party of
Viet Nam Heralds
New Era of Development and Social Progress
Congress Adopts Bold Plans to Advance Viet Nam's Socialist Nation-Building Project
Closing session of the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of
Viet Nam, January 23, 2026
In a spirit of great revolutionary enthusiasm, unity and confidence, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) concluded its proceedings on January 23. The Congress, held in Hanoi from January 19-23, launched a new era of development and social progress for Viet Nam, the Era of the Nation's Rise. The decisions of the 14th Congress, setting Viet Nam's own path of development based on the strength of its people guided by a Communist Party steeled through years of arduous struggle and experience, were warmly applauded by fraternal parties, sister nations, friends, sympathizers and fellow travelers all over the world.
Of greatest significance, the 14th Congress of the CPV adopted its Resolution, a strategic vision defining the way forward in the new era it has recognized. It has set out ambitious goals for the next five years to achieve Viet Nam's strategic objective of becoming a developing nation with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030 and to set the conditions for the country becoming a developed nation with high income by 2045, the 100th anniversary of Viet Nam's independence.
The conditions necessary to set such lofty targets of socio-economic development were meticulously prepared and the factors for success identified, so that every resource of the society can be mobilized in an Action Plan to guarantee victory.
The 14th Congress elected a 200-person Party Central Committee comprised of 180 official members and 20 alternates, of which 87 are newly elected. It is a Central Committee closely linked to the masses of people, with To Lam unanimously re-elected as General Secretary.
The General Secretary To Lam noted the profound significance of the 14th Congress, that it was convened "amid a rapidly changing, unstable and unpredictable global context, while domestically Viet Nam has attained new stature, capacity and standing, alongside higher and more demanding development requirements. This is a moment to face reality squarely, correctly identify opportunities and challenges, review achievements, pinpoint remaining bottlenecks and most importantly unify will and action to move forward with confidence."
"The big question now," he said, "is whether we have sufficient position and strength; sufficient will and determination to enter the new era, the era of powerful development and prosperity for our nation? The answer is: We do."
Opening session of the 14th National Party Congress, January 19,
2026
The Congress called on the entire Party, the entire people, the entire armed forces nationwide and overseas Vietnamese compatriots to unite as one to ensure stability, and promote the highest national interests, development and continuous improvement of the people's standard of living under the slogan "No One Left Behind."
General Secretary To Lam in his speech to the opening session of the Congress emphasized the strategic significance of the 14th Congress proceedings. "The Congress documents," he said, "set forth enormous and important tasks; tasks that are both urgent and of long-term strategic significance; reflecting the unity of will of the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army; and a determination to achieve the lofty goals stated in the Political Report – maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; achieving rapid and sustainable national development and firmly protecting the Fatherland; comprehensively improving and enhancing the people's lives; achieving strategic autonomy, self-reliance, and confident progress in the new era of the nation."
The Congress reviewed and highly appreciated the work that the 13th Congress had taken up during the period 2020-2025, achieving magnificent results such as mass poverty reduction to less than one per cent of Viet Nam's 100 million population despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, geo-political tensions and conflicts, trade wars and an increasingly complex global geo-political environment. The discussions underscored that the leadership of the Party and the unity of the Party, the people and the armed forces were decisive in Viet Nam's advance in all spheres, setting the stage for a fresh new turning point in the nation's socialist nation-building project.
Photo of the 200 member Central Committee at the Closing session
of the 14th Congress,
February 23, 2026
The Resolution of the 14th Congress reaffirms that the adoption of the Doi Moi economic reforms 40 years ago was a "great creative undertaking" representing a deliberate "historic choice" which enabled Viet Nam to thrive and move into this new era – the era of the nation's rise.
The five key tasks set by the 14th National Congress are:
1) Prioritizing the removal of bottlenecks and promoting innovation and ensuring consistency between economic growth, social development, environmental protection and national defence;
2) Prioritizing investments in transport, energy, digital/data and infrastructure to enhance regional integration;
3) Developing high quality human resources by shifting the growth model from low-cost labour and resource extraction to an economy that is productivity-driven, fueled by science, technology and innovation;
4) Strengthening the Party and the integrity of the political system by enhancing leadership capacity, improving governance and combatting corruption, waste and other negative factors; and
5) Firmly defending national independence, unity and sovereignty to ensure a peaceful and stable environment for rapid, sustainable development.
These tasks are aimed at ensuring that under the leadership of the Party, the country not only achieves its near and long term strategic goals but is "a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, civilized and happy Viet Nam steadily advancing towards socialism."
The Vice-Chair of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Than
addresses the Congress.
In the next five years, Viet Nam aims to increase GDP growth by an ambitious 10 per cent each year and achieve per capita GDP of U.S.$8,500 from slightly over U.S.$5,000 today. The Action Plan of the 14th Congress aims at achieving at least 28 per cent of GDP growth from the manufacturing and processing sector, while the digital economy will account for 30 per cent. The Congress Resolution also calls for an increase in annual labour productivity of 8.5 per cent.
Social investments will average around 40 per cent of GDP, and life expectancy will increase from 74.5 years today to 75.5 years. As part of raising the level of education and training for the people, the goal is to have 35-40 per cent of the workforce holding certification in various fields. Efforts will be made to reduce the national poverty rate which is now about one per cent of the population. As well, the Resolution aims to raise Viet Nam's ranking to among the top 40 countries in the World Happiness Index by 2030. It now ranks 46th, the second highest in Southeast Asia after Singapore.
Environmental goals include maintaining forest coverage at about 42-43 per cent of the country, treating and reusing 65-70 per cent of wastewater and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by eight to nine per cent.
The Resolution outlines 12 development guidelines for the 2026-2030 period which call for bold thinking and innovation in the political, economic, cultural and social spheres to build what is called a "new development ecosystem" with the people's well-being at the centre of all thought, planning and action, with the Communist Party of Viet Nam playing the decisive role in inspiring, organizing and leading the people to achieve concrete results.
Priority is given to "a new growth model" that will foster higher productivity, quality and efficiency driven by innovations in science and technology and digital transformation of the economy.
The Resolution also stresses building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity while safeguarding national interests and defending national independence and sovereignty.
The Congress Resolution affirmed the rapid development of a "modern, internationally integrated socialist-oriented market economy suited to new productive forces" with the state sector playing the leading role while enhancing the role of the private sector as one of the key drivers of economic growth. Economic restructuring, rapid industrialization, innovation and digital transformation of the economy will underpin the new growth model in the coming period, which will go hand in hand with raising the education and technical level of the working people of Viet Nam.
The importance of building a revolutionary, modern People's Army and People's Public Security Forces to firmly safeguard the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Viet Nam was highlighted in the Congress Resolution in order that the Vietnamese people have the peace and stability to pursue their nation-building project. Along with this it was underscored that Viet Nam would enhance its diplomatic efforts to serve the overall agenda of achieving the country's goals.
At its closing session on the afternoon of January 23, the 14th National Congress of the CPV unanimously adopted its Resolution and Action Plan for the next five years. This is the work the Congress entrusts to the 14th Central Committee of the CPV to carry out.
Highest Quality Delegates and People's Participation in Congress Deliberations and Decision-Making
A total of 1,586 delegates, representing 5.6 million CPV members from across the country, took part in the deliberations and decision-making of the 14th National Congress of the CPV. In addition to Party delegates, 205 invited guests, 111 ambassadors, chargés d'affaires and heads of foreign missions and international organizations in Viet Nam also attended.
The Congress paid first-rate attention to personnel, the quality of the delegates selected by Party organizations and members countrywide. The Congress Documents were meticulously prepared ahead of the Congress and broad discussion by Party members across the country took place during the months before the Congress, refining and enriching the documents at each stage. For close to two months prior to the opening of the Congress, the documents were also made available more broadly to the citizens, including the overseas Vietnamese community, for their input and suggestions. More than 5 million people from all walks of life – scientists, teachers, production workers, members of ethnic minority communities, army personnel and others – contributed more than 14 million ideas and suggestions, many of which were incorporated in the final Congress Resolution that was adopted.
Delegates to the 14th Congress approve Congress Resolution,
January 23, 2026
These were the most involved, broadest consultations of any CPV Congress to date. They accomplished the mission to unify thinking within the Party ranks and between the Party and the people to take action, spur development and meet the aspirations of the people to march into the new era with confidence. The human factor, organization and social consciousness is key and the Congress successfully accomplished its mission on that crucial matter.
Elections to the Political Bureau of the CPV, January 23, 2026
This article was published in
Volume 56 Number 2 - February 8, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560021.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca