Closing speech of General Secretary To Lam at the 13th Party Central Committee Conference

Dear comrades, Politburo member, member of the Secretariat, member of the Party Central Committee,

Dear comrades attending the Conference,

After 3 days of urgent work, with a high sense of responsibility, the Central Committee members discussed very democratically, listened, and discussed frankly many new, important issues and highly agreed on important, core contents. The Central Executive Committee voted to approve the Conference Resolution at an absolute majority. It can be affirmed that the 11th Central Conference of the 13th tenure has completed all the contents and programs set out. Many Central comrades suggested that the Politburo recognize this as a historic conference, discussing historical decisions in the new revolutionary period of our country. On behalf of the Politburo and the Secretariat, I acknowledge, highly appreciate and commend the spirit of active, responsible, proactive, scientific, creative, decisive, effective, innovative work of the Central Committee; the thoughtful, thorough, focused, and key preparation and service for the Conference, with many improvements by the Subcommittees, the Central Party Office and relevant agencies. Next, I would like to summarize, emphasize and conclude a number of issues to unify leadership and direction for implementation:

First: The Central Executive Committee highly agreed with the proposed contents in the Submissions, Reports, and Projects under the working group on continuing to reorganize the apparatus of the political system, reorganize administrative units, and organize local governments at 2 levels. In which:

The Central Executive Committee emphasized: Continuing to reorganize the apparatus of the political system is an unprecedented strategic decision with the highest goal of rapid, stable and sustainable development of the country, better caring for people's lives, building a streamlined government apparatus, shifting from passive management to proactive service to the people, creating development, and having enough capacity to effectively organize and implement the Party's policies into real life in the era of development and prosperity. This arrangement of local administrative units is built in the spirit of science, breakthrough, creativity, closely following reality with a long-term vision, looking forward to at least 100 years, ensuring the formation and expansion of new economic, social and cultural development space suitable for national development. After the reorganization, local governments must ensure streamlining, efficiency, and people's closeness, meeting modern social governance requirements, achieving rapid and sustainable growth goals; creating new position and strength for the task of ensuring national defense, security, and foreign affairs; creating momentum and motivation for economic development, focusing on promoting the private economy; accelerating the development of science, technology and innovation; increasingly better caring for the material and spiritual life of the people. The rearrangement of the model and organization of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations and mass organizations assigned by the Party and the State must be truly streamlined, ensuring no overlap or overlap in functions and tasks; not institutionalizing activities, focusing on residential areas, close to the people, serving the people in the spirit of "focusing on and practicing the people as the root", must truly be the "extended arm" of the Party to each household, each person; must take care of the legitimate and legal rights and interests of union members, association members and the People. Strictly implement the principle of the Party unifying leadership in building the apparatus, personnel work, managing the staff and staffing of the political system. Continue to innovate, improve and synchronously and strictly implement regulations on personnel work at all levels, sectors and localities according to the principles of publicity, transparency, strengthening power control, linking power with personal responsibility. Identify, take preventive measures, resolutely fight and strictly handle acts of corruption, waste, negativity, causing disunity, running for office, locally sending delegates in the process of restructuring the apparatus, handling public assets...

The Central Executive Committee highly agreed on the following policies: on the organization of local government at 02 levels: Provincial level (Province, centrally run city), Commune level (Commune, Ward, Special Zone under province and city); the number of provincial-level administrative units after the merger is 34 provinces, cities (28 provinces and 06 centrally run cities) with the names and administrative - political centers determined according to the principles stated in the Submissions and Projects; end the operation of district-level administrative units after the National Assembly decided to amend and supplement a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution and the Law on Organization of Local Government 2025 (amended); merge commune-level administrative units to ensure the whole country reduces about 60-70% of the number of commune-level administrative units.

Agree on the policy of establishing a local party organization corresponding to the administrative system at the provincial and commune levels; end the operation of district-level party committees; establish a local party organization in accordance with the Party Charter and regulations of the Central Government.

With the new administrative organization model, the Provincial level is both the level implementing policies and guidelines from the Central Government, the level issuing policies in the province and city and directly directing and managing the activities of the commune level in the area. The commune level mainly implements policies issued by the central and provincial levels; is strengthened decentralization and the authority to issue legal documents to decide on the organization of law enforcement in the area and decide on issues under the authority of its level.

Agree on the policy of arranging, streamlining, and consolidating the agencies of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and mass organizations assigned by the Party and State at the central, provincial and commune levels stated in the Submission and Project of the Party Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Central organizations; the policy of ending the activities of civil servant trade unions, armed forces trade unions, reducing the level of union fee contributions of cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers. Agreeing to continue to reorganize and streamline the apparatus of the People's Court and the People's Procuracy; end the operation of the People's Court, the High-level and District-level People's Procuracy; Establish a system of People's Courts and the People's Procuracy with 03 levels: People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuracy; People's Court and People's Procuracy at the provincial, municipal and regional levels (the court system and the military Procuracy keep the current model).

The Central Executive Committee agreed on the policy of amending and supplementing the State's Constitution and laws related to regulations on local governments to serve the arrangement of the apparatus of the political system; regulations on the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations; ensuring completion before June 30, 2025; effective from July 1, 2025; stipulating transition time to ensure smooth, uninterrupted operations, in accordance with the plan and roadmap expected for arrangement and merger; the Central Committee requested the National Assembly, the Government and relevant agencies to closely coordinate and effectively implement the tasks of perfecting the institutions. Highly focus to effectively carry out these tasks, strongly innovate thinking and methods, strive to thoroughly remove barriers, difficulties and institutional obstacles in 2025 to create a legal corridor, create a foundation for development, especially issues related to bidding, budgeting, public investment, private economy, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation; create a solid and favorable foundation for the Revolution in arranging and streamlining the apparatus of the political system; unblock bottlenecks and resources; promote decentralization to thoroughly reduce power in conjunction with streamlining the apparatus, effective operations; create new development space for localities and the whole country. Developing and promulgating laws and policies must closely follow the leadership of the Party, closely following the practical situation and characteristics of the organizational restructuring revolution, not allowing the situation of waiting for laws and mechanisms to lead to delays and losses of opportunities; creating an open, transparent, safe and low-cost business environment; thoroughly handling institutional "bottlenecks" to turn them into resources and competitive advantages, making Vietnam one of the leading countries in administrative reform and creative startups to be able to keep up with, go together and surpass with previous countries.

Second: Regarding the group of issues to continue preparing for the 14th National Party Congress and the election of 16th National Assembly deputies, People's Council deputies at all levels for the 2026 - 2031 term.

Regarding the draft documents serving the 14th National Party Congress: The Central Committee agreed to assess that this draft was edited briefly and briefly (reduced by about 30%-35%), but the content was quite complete and in-depth, ensuring both documentation and comprehensiveness while ensuring high action, which could help immediately implement, update, and add many major issues, and be a model for the development of documents of Party organizations. Through discussion and discussion, the Central Committee highly agreed and found it necessary to immediately implement a number of major solutions that were agreed upon in the draft documents, and at the same time specified in the documents for the 2025 - 2030 term of Party organizations, including: (i) Agree on the highest goal of the 14th Congress to decide on strategic issues to ensure "stability, development and improvement of people's lives"; all viewpoints, goals and solutions in the draft documents must be unified, synchronous, consistent and create synergy and strength to achieve this goal. (ii) Agree on the high requirements of the coming period as high-quality development, rapid development and sustainable development, proactive, self-reliant and autonomous in development. Therefore, it is required that the Subcommittees continue to review the Central Committee's opinions, fully supplement the difficulties and objective challenges that they face, the shortcomings and limitations that have been prolonged over many terms, tasks and solutions to adapt to the new situation, the era of opportunities and new challenges with new thinking, new revolutionary approaches, and outstanding oneself to ensure proactive, autonomous, rapid and sustainable development; at the same time, requiring Party committees in the process of preparing and organizing congresses to focus on discussing carefully the tasks and solutions to continue to contribute to perfecting the documents of the 14th National Party Congress and the documents of their own congresses. (iii) Agreeing to strongly "establish a new growth model", "building a modern national education system, at the regional and world levels" are fundamental solutions to overcome the risk of falling behind. In the new growth model, taking science and technology, innovation and national digital transformation as the main driving force, the private economy (including the domestic private sector and the foreign-invested sector) is the most important driving force of the national economy; strengthening the leadership role of the Party and state management of the private economy. At the same time, the Central Government is also highly unified in the new revolutionary period, needing to focus on identifying and strongly implementing the content of "Our Party is ethics, is civilization", model of "socialist" provinces and "socialist" communes.

Regarding the work of organizing the development and implementation of the Party's Charter: The Central Executive Committee discussed, gave opinions and basically agreed, approving the draft Orientation for personnel work of the 14th Party Central Committee; supplementing personnel for planning the 14th Party Central Committee; the contents of amending and supplementing the Regulations of the Central Executive Committee on the implementation of the Party Charter; Regulations on inspection, supervision and discipline of the Party; the contents of amending and supplementing Directive No. 35-CT/TW dated June 14, 2024 and Conclusion No. 118-KL/TW dated January 18, 2025 of the Politburo on Party congresses at all levels towards the 14th National Congress of the Party; the orientation of electing 16th National Assembly deputies, People's Council deputies for the 2026-2031 term. The Central Committee requests the Politburo, Party committees, Party organizations, and relevant agencies to urgently implement the contents agreed upon and approved by the Central Committee.

What needs to be done immediately: The Central Executive Committee requires that immediately after the Conference, Party committees, Party organizations, agencies, units, localities and heads of the Party immediately deploy 7 tasks: (1) Proactively and actively do a good job of disseminating, propagating, mobilizing, and orienting ideas in their agencies, units, localities, and organizations as well as participate in orienting public opinion, ensuring high solidarity, consensus, and unity among cadres, party members, civil servants, public employees, workers and people of all walks of life for the Party's major policies. (2) Focus on directing and drastically implementing tasks to implement the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus according to the Projects and plans approved by the Central Government. (3) Proactively tasks on the arrangement, assignment and use of cadres, civil servants and public employees, ensuring retention of talented people, implementing well the regime and policies for those affected and affected; preparing a full legal basis, creating the highest convenience for the arrangement; proactively plans for management, use and handling of assets, offices, and public housing, absolutely not allowing loss, waste, or negativity. (4) Ensure that agencies, units, and organizations before, during, and after the arrangement of operations are continuous, smooth, efficient, effective, and efficient, without interruption of work, without leaving vacant tasks, areas, and fields, without affecting the normal operations of agencies, units, organizations, and people. (5) Regarding organizing congresses at all levels in the merged and consolidated locality: We organize congresses at the commune and provincial levels immediately after the arrangement of administrative units. Therefore, it is necessary to lead and direct very closely to ensure that the Congress is in accordance with regulations and substantially, without formality. The Politburo will issue a new Directive to replace Directive 35 with specific instructions on organizing Congresses at all levels in a new spirit. I note 02 more issues: (i) Regarding documents: The provincial level must promptly supplement and complete documents of the Congress at its level on the basis of the new draft of the Central Document. For provinces that are merged or consolidated, the Standing Committees must discuss with each other to develop documents for the new Provincial Congress. It is necessary to build documents in the spirit of "expanding development space" of the new province. It is not a matter of mechanical addition of documents of the old province into documents of the new province. The merged communes must also follow this spirit. (ii) Regarding personnel: Many comrades are concerned about the issue of personnel arrangement when merging, consolidating and arranging personnel for the Congress. Central agencies will have specific instructions on criteria and standards. I suggest that the highest standard should be because it requires work, then other criteria. The Standing Committees at the provincial level (with mergers and consolidations) must discuss this issue carefully, creating high unity in implementation, especially the arrangement of heads of agencies after the merger. For issues that are not yet agreed upon, Politburo members and the Secretariat assigned to be in charge of the area will guide and direct (provinces also need to assign provincial Party Committee members to guide and direct commune-level congresses). (6) Ensure roadmap and progress, processes (especially the process of collecting public opinions according to grassroots democracy regulations) on amending the legal corridor, on the time of ending district-level operations, merging communes, arranging and merging provinces as approved in the Resolution. (7) Well organize major commemorative activities in 2025, focusing on the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification; 135 Anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth; 80 Anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day 2/9, along with commemorative activities of each locality.

The Central Committee requested the Subcommittees preparing for the 14th Congress to promptly receive comments on supplementary and final documents (especially the orientation for socio-economic development for regions and localities after the merger) to send to Party congresses at all levels for discussion and comments, continue to complete the draft documents, report to the Central Executive Committee at the 12th Central Conference for cadres, Party members and people to discuss and give opinions.

Immediately after this Conference, the Central Steering Committee to summarize Resolution 18 will meet to specify the work to be done, propose a plan and roadmap to implement tasks in the coming time and assign Politburo members and Secretariat members to direct, guide, inspect and urge. Also next week, the Politburo and the Secretariat will organize a national cadre conference to disseminate and unify awareness and working methods in the entire political system about the policies that the 11th Central Conference has just adopted.

The Politburo will also soon issue a Resolution on innovation in law-making and enforcement to meet development requirements in the new era and a Resolution on private economic development to create new momentum, along with Resolution 57 on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, national digital transformation and Resolution 59 on international integration in the new situation to be determined to achieve the GDP growth target of 8% or more in 2025, creating a foundation for continuous double-digit growth in the following years. Strive to achieve the goal of Vietnam becoming a developed country with modern industry and high average income by 2030; by 2045, becoming a developed country with high income.

Dear comrades,

The work ahead is very busy, the reality of life is demanding, the people, Party members and cadres are waiting, the tasks ahead are very heavy and difficult. I think this is a big challenge, and at the same time an opportunity for each member of the Party Central Committee to demonstrate their sense of responsibility before the Party, the country, and the people. The Central Executive Committee believes that, promoting the tradition of solidarity, resilience and indomitableness of the nation, under the talented and wise leadership of the Party, the joint efforts, consensus and striving of the entire Party, people and army, we will certainly overcome all difficulties and challenges, excellently completing the set goals and targets. We will definitely succeed.

Closing the Conference, I wish you and your family good health, happiness and excellent completion of the assigned tasks.

Sincerely thank you!

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