The 6^th National Party Congress (1986), a congress of historical significance, played a decisive role in laying down the guideline on a comprehensive, deep, and thorough reform. Since then, the CPV leadership over the reform and the cause of building and developing the country has always been proved in practice.

The 12th National Party Congress (source: VNA)

The new way of thinking formed after the 6^th National Party Congress was the basis for the Party to consistently and enduringly implement the policy on developing a multi-sector economy; to innovate social policies focusing on measures to improve people’s living conditions, considering people the foundation. The Party has focused on strengthening relations with countries and attracting foreign investment; combining the strength of the nation and that of the times in the new condition; adjusting its method and style of leadership, removing red tape and making words actions. The State has focused on managing the economy and society by law, enhancing the enforcement of disciplines and law.

While leading the reform, the Party and the State have issued important decisions and policies to help the country overcome newly-emerging difficulties and challenges and develop. Law on Foreign investment was passed by the 8^th National Assembly in December 1987 and in effect since January 1^st, 1988. On April 4^th 1988, the Politburo (6^th tenure) issued the Resolution No.10 on innovating the management of agriculture; assigning cultivated land  to peasants to cultivate for a long time, bringing about the greatest development ever in agricultural field. As a result, from a food importer, Vietnam became one of the world’s leading rice exporters. It was the new policy and mechanism on management that made the economy thrive; inflation was curbed, decreasing from 774.7% in 1986 to 60% in 1990.

In the 1990s, the reform was implemented proactively. The 7^th National Party Congress (June 1991) passed the Platform on national construction in the period of transition to socialism and the Strategy for socio-economic stabilization and development until the year 2000. The country focused on developing a multi-sector economy run by the market, managed by the State, and oriented to socialism. In 1992, the Party advocated renovating, adjusting and developing theoretical work. The Mid-Term National Party Conference (7^th tenure) in January 1994 advocated speeding up industrialization, modernization, and building a socialist law-governed State of the people, by the people, for the people; well implementing social policies, particularly hunger eradication, poverty alleviation, and the policy on the people having merits for the revolution.

The 8^th National Party Congress reviewed the success of the 10-year reform, affirming that the country got out of the socioeconomic crisis and fulfilled its objectives set for the first route of transitional period to move forward to the period of industrialization and modernization. The 8^th Party Central Committee mapped out a strategy for education and training, science and technology development (December 1996); the strategy for cadres (June 1997); guideline for developing an advanced Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with national identity (July 1998); actively integrating into global economy, responsibly taking part in ASEM, APEC.

The 9^th National Party Congress (April 2001) advocated bringing into play the strength of the entire nation, stepping up the reform, industrialization and modernization, building and protecting the Homeland; drawing up the Strategy for socio-economic development in the period of 2001-2010, with a focus on developing the socialist-oriented market economy; developing Vietnam into a modern-oriented country by the year 2020. The 9^th Party Central Committee released important special resolutions on issues, namely Homeland protection in the new situation, building political system, particularly at grass-roots level, policy on religion, ethnicity, and Vietnamese expatriates, developing private sector, and improving the efficiency of state-owned companies.

 The 10^th National Party Congress (April 2006) summed up the 20-year reform and further clarified theoretical and practical issues on Vietnam’s renovation and socialism building in the context of global crisis and economic downturn. With recorded achievements, “the awareness of socialism and the path to socialism became clearer; system of theoretical views on socialist society and the path to socialism in Vietnam was basically formed”. The Party Central Committee released important resolutions on innovating structure of Party and State organs and political system; the Maritime Strategy of Vietnam to 2020; economic policy when becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO); ideological, theoretical and press work in the new situation; public administration innovation; building workers class, youth work, developing intelligentsia; issues on agriculture, rural area and peasants, building new rural area. Basing on reality of the reform and the implementation of the 1991 Platform, the 11^th National Party Congress (January 2011) passed the Platform for building the country in the period of transition to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) which continued to clarify and reaffirm the path to socialism in Vietnam with fundamental views and orientations. The Congress also worked out a Strategy for socioeconomic development (2011-2020) with objectives based on the innovation of growth model, the restructuring of the economy, and the implementation of the three strategic breakthroughs, namely the completion of institution of the socialist-oriented market economy, the training human resources of high calibre, and the construction of modern and synchronous infrastructure. To prevent economic downturn, the Party managed to stabilize the macro economy, curbing inflation, assuring social welfare, and exercising close leadership and direction. In 2012, the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) issued the resolution on several urgent issues on party building, in line with the implementation of the Politburo’s Directive No.3 on “Studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s moral example”. In 2013, the Party advocated completing political system synchronously; the National Assembly promulgated the 2013 Constitution; the Government promoted public administration innovation. Policies on economy, society, culture, education and training, science and technology were positively implemented. Growth rate was considerably high; GDP in 2015 increased by 6.5%, inflation was controlled. Since 2011, the situation in the East Sea has become intense and complicated. Vietnam’s sovereignty over seas and islands has been violated. “Political security and social order and safety have been complicated, implicating factors that could destabilize the society. The task of protecting national sovereignty has faced new challenges”. The 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee released the Resolution on the Strategy to defend the Homeland in the new situation.

After the 30 years of reform, in the 12^th National Party Congress, our Party reaffirmed impressive achievements of historical significance, including: the country got out of the socio-economic crisis (1996) and the status of a poor and underdeveloped country (2008); continued to speed up industrialization and modernization; developed the socialist-oriented market economy with better awareness for the target of a wealthy people, a powerful, democratic, equitable, civilized country; unceasingly built and completed political system and the socialist law-governed State, and enhanced the Party leadership over the State and society. Social policies have been better implemented, particularly policy on hunger alleviation, poverty reduction; the number of poor households decreased from 58% (1993) to below 5% (2015). Development of culture, education and humans was paid special attention. Material and spiritual lives of the people considerably improved. Defence and security were strengthened, firmly protecting national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Homeland, maintaining political security, social order and safety, thwarting all plots and tricks of “Peaceful Evolution”, riots, and subversions of the hostile forces, maintaining political stability, protecting the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime. External relations were extended. By 2015, Vietnam set up diplomatic relations with 186 countries out of 193 United Nations members, including strategic partnership with 15 countries.

From achievements and lessons learned in the 30-year reform, the 12^th National Party Congress clearly identified views on the Party leadership in the new tenure: enhancing the building of a pure, strong Party; bringing into play strength of the whole nation and the socialist democracy; stepping up the reform comprehensively and synchronously; firmly protecting the Homeland, maintaining peaceful and stable environment; striving to turn Vietnam into a modernity-oriented industrialized country.

Assoc Prof, Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc

MA. Luu Thi Ha