Building Vietnam into an eternal socialist country is the goal that our entire Party, people and military are determined to attain. To achieve that goal, our Party has attached special importance to the close combination between social-economic development and the defense and security enhancement. 

In order to implement the proper combination between socio-economic development with defense and security enhancement, our entire Party, people and military are required to be more fully and deeply aware of both theory and practice. As regards theory, it is necessary to understand that economy and defense and security are two different scopes, evolving in accordance with their own laws, but existing a dialectical and interacting relationship between them. Economic development is the central task, the basis, the foundation for defense and security. Enhanced defense and security generates reverse positive impacts, securing and promoting economic development. However, it doesn’t mean that a certain strong economy would inevitably result in strong defense and security, rather, this must be done through binding the two domains in an active and conscious way and according to a unified plan. Therefore, the leadership of all levels should positively and actively foster and thoroughly comprehend directives, the Party’s resolutions and guidelines to raise awareness of staff at all levels and sectors of socio-economic development associated with defense and security. The implementation of this issue must be organized strictly, seriously, more dynamically with a thinking that is comprehensively innovative, synchronous, consistent in both policies, viewpoints, contents, methods and solutions, thus meeting requirements, tasks of national building and defense and security in the new period.

The ministries, industries and localities should coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense to assess, build plans of socio-economic development coupled with defense and security on the strategic areas and the action plan of national economy amelioration to meet requirements of the defense mission in any situations; closely steer the  combination of defense and security with development of culture, society and foreign affairs; couple defense and security with economy; build a comprehensively strong political basis as the core for building defense zones; enhance the management and protection of defense works, rear bases and local military areas. When building projects of cultural, socio-economic development, relevant agencies should discuss and agree with the military organ at the same level. For projects relating to defense and security, the People's Committee must consult with the local military authority at the same level and with superior military authority; they are necessarily assessed by all those agencies under the provisions of laws. All local activities should be done in compliance with regulations on combination of the socio-economic development and the defense and security enhancement in defense zones.

Under the leadership of the executive committee, the management and administration of the government, military and police agencies play their role as consultative organs and perform their functions in military operations in association with political security activities, social safety and order. Defense zones should be comprehensively constructed in the fields of the politics, economy, culture, society, defense and security. Localities must frequently implement measures to build their defense potentials; to build local armed forces; to construct people’s defense attached to people's security posture; to develop strong defense zones; to be ready to ameliorate the national economy to meet requirements of the local and defense mission in all situations.

To perform its functions of both the consultative organ, and the center that coordinates and directly performs the mission of construction of defense zones, the local military authority should focus on advising Party’s executive committees, local governments to effectively execute the leadership and steering mechanism. The construction and consolidation of the people’s defense in the locality should take the local protection into consideration, counter all conspiracy and sabotage of the enemy. Military agencies must strictly abide by training, rehearsal programs, thereby adjusting the combat plan, combat determination and combat methods, ... to the actual requirements finely as well as improving the coordination of the whole political system in the mobilization of economic resources for the defense and security mission in case of an occurrence, contributing to maintaining the social and political stability, creating a favorable environment for every locality and the whole country  to accomplish the cause of the building and safeguarding the Fatherland.

By Tran Quoc Duong

Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics