This year, we are going to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Uncle Ho’s Appeal for Patriotic Emulation when our country has pushed back and successfully responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. After 37 years’ reform, Viet Nam has recorded great achievements of significant importance. The entire Party, people, and military are making every effort to realise the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress and resolutions of party congresses for the 2020 – 2025 term at all levels and have gained positive outcomes. These achievements further prove the sound, creative, skillful leadership of the Party and the unified management of the State as well as efforts of compatriots and soldiers nationwide made in all fields, of which it is the considerable contribution of the Patriotic Emulation Movement, an enduring vital strategic measure in the course of development of Vietnamese revolution.

In the coming years, the world and region are likely to witness complex, unforeseeable changes with many potential risks.  Strategic competition among great powers and local conflicts occurs fiercely, which have multifaceted influence on nations. The Asia-Pacific, including the ASEAN Community, continues to see dynamic growth but confronts many emerging challenges. Traditional and nontraditional security issues, especially cybersecurity, terrorism, crime, natural disasters, epidemics, etc., evolve in a more complex fashion. Inside the country, although there are many opportunities and advantages, Viet Nam still has to face numerous difficulties and challenges. Hostile forces and reactionaries continue to step up doing damage to the Party, State, and military through increasingly subtle, malicious, open, and direct means. The military concentrates on adjusting its organisation, which sets out new requirements in terms of feelings, organisational work, and policy work. there is an urgent need to provide technical support for some types of modern weapons and equipment.

It is within this context that the entire military must promote solidarity, unity, and efforts in every operating aspect through many drastic, synchronous solutions, of which the increased emulation, praise and rewarding, and the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement is a crucial solution. To facilitate the effective, substantive development of this work in both depth and breadth requires departments and units in the entire military, first and foremost the party committees and commanders at all levels, to grasp and carry out the following measures.

First, it is necessary to deeply comprehend guidelines and viewpoints of the Party and Ho Chi Minh’s thought; raise cadres’ and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility for emulation, praise and rewarding, and the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement. The emulation, praise and rewarding, and the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement are a broad campaign in essence, which requires consistence, cohesiveness, and consensus from ideology, awareness to action and from capacity to implementation. Party committees and commanders of departments and units should attach importance to good propagation and education in order to enhance cadres’ and soldiers’ awareness, consciousness, and responsibility, first and foremost of the party committees, leaders, and commanders at all echelons, to praise, rewarding, and the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement. They must regard this work as a regular, important mission to encourage and leverage all potential and creativeness of each individual and organisation to accomplish all assigned tasks. The propagation and education need to concentrate on popularising viewpoints and guidelines of the Party and Ho Chi Minh’s thought, most notably Directive No. 34-CT/TW, dated 7 April 2014, of the Politburo (11th tenure) on “Further renewing emulation, praise, and rewarding work”; resolutions, directives, and instructions of the Central Military Commission (CMC), Ministry of National Defence (MND), and General Political Department (GPD) on continuing to reform and promote the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement and emulation, praise, and rewarding work; advantages, disadvantages, and requirements of military building, national defence consolidation, and protection of the Fatherland in the new situation. The propagation and education should also focus on building political steadfastness, sense of combat readiness, attitude, motive, and responsibility of each military personnel; proactively defeating any destructive plots and tricks of hostile forces, especially in ideological, political fields in cyberspace. It is imperative to attach importance to implementation, preliminary summing up, and summation to draw experience after each emulation movement and timely praise and reward collectives and individuals for their achievements and feats of arms; enhance propagation and multiply prominent examples to facilitate widespread, continual emulation movements to reach new heights in all operating aspects.

General Phan Van Giang speaks at a ceremony to praise the outstanding youth of the Military in 2022

Second, emulation is to be stepped up, which aims to make three breakthroughs and bring about transformation in terms of organisation and staffing, training, soldiers’ compliance with regulations, disciplines, and law, and administrative reform, contributing to increased overall quality and combat power of the military in the new situation. These are fundamental conditions for the entire military to achieve the goal of building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern People’s Army from 2030 onwards. Department and units, therefore, need to promote leadership of strict, effective implementation of Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW, dated 17 January 2022, of the Politburo (13th tenure), Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW, dated 2 April 2022, of the CMC on the organisation of Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA) in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond in connection with providing weapons and equipment for forces as identified in Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW, dated 1 August 2018 of the Politburo (12th tenure). Emulation should also be encouraged in successfully carrying out Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP, dated 25 April 2022, of the MND on implementing Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW of the CMC according to the correct road map, ensuring maintenance of stability and enhancement of the military’s combat power.

Regarding combat readiness, training, and education, party committees and commanders of departments, units, and colleges must further grasp and carry out many emulation measures to effectively realise Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, of the CMC on enhancing training quality in the 2023 – 2030 period and beyond; Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, of the CMC on renewing education and training to meet requirements and missions to build the military in the new period. It is necessary to promote the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement in association with renewing and improving quality of training and education; conduct realistic, intensive, synchronous training according to mottos, viewpoints, principles, and combinations; attach importance to enhanced quality of exercises, competitions, and examinations at all echelons, especially the hosting and participation in national sport events and international army games. Additionally, there is a need to adopt synchronous, drastic emulation solutions aimed at enhancing combat readiness quality and capacity; proactively supplement and complete plans to timely respond to traditional and nontraditional security challenges and play the leading role in response to incidents, catastrophes, natural disasters, and search and rescue, contributing to firm protection of waters, airspace, borders, domestic security, and territorial integrity without being passive and surprised in any situations.

Third, the core role in building and strengthening a strong all-people national defence must be further brought into play. Building of the all-people national defence is a consistent position of our Party and State to create synchronous, balanced, comprehensive, overall power for successful building and protection of the Fatherland in the new situation. Thus, in the coming time, the entire military needs to strengthen collaboration with commissions, ministries, and branches at the central level and localities. This will serve to generate overall power and mobilise all resources needed for establishing a robust all-people national defence in terms of both potential, force, and posture. On the basis of deeply grasping Conclusion No. 64-KL/TW, dated 30 October 2019, of the Politburo (12th tenure) on further stepping up implementation of Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW, dated 22 September 2008, of the Politburo and Decree No. 21/2019/ND-CP, dated 22 September 2019, of the Government on building defensive zones in connection with the Strategy to Safeguard the Fatherland in the New Situation, departments and units are to promote reform and creativeness in the building and operation of defensive zones at all echelons, realising the viewpoint of defending the country from afar. Specifically, efforts should be put into improving quality of building and operation of the reserve and militia and self-defence force, especially the standing militia, the mobile militia, etc., in strategic, key areas. Moreover, there is a need to adopt synchronous solutions to enhance effectiveness of national defence work in ministries and branches at the central level and localities; improve quality of national defence and security education among subjects. Collaboration among the commissions, ministries, branches, and localities is to be strengthened in order to effectively operationalise strategies, projects, and legal system concerning military and national defence. Attention should be paid to successful combination between socio-economic development and national defence and vice versa in strategic, remote, extremely difficult areas.

The entire military need to leverage their core role and work closely with levels, branches, forces, and localities to establish potential, force, and posture of the national defence; improve the sustainability and ability to mobilise strength of the national economy to meet requirements and missions in national defence situations. They are requested to participate actively and responsibly in building a strong political system at all echelons, especially at the grassroots level in strategic, critical, remote, border, island, maritime areas; help people to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty; be in the vanguard of preventing, responding, and dealing with consequences of natural disasters, environmental catastrophes, epidemics, and search and rescue, contributing to establishment of increasingly robust “people’s heart and mind posture.”

Fourth, emulation is to be promoted in development of the defence industry, international integration, and defence diplomacy, satisfying the demand of building a modern military. On the basis of assigned missions, functional departments of the MND, first and foremost the General Department of Defence Industry, need to organise many emulation movements in the implementation of plans, programs, projects to develop the defence industry, ensuring practicality and feasibility. They must work out many solutions to encourage and attract resources to development of the defence industry in the self-reliant, resilient, modern, dual-use direction, enabling it to become the key sector of the national industry and contribute to enhancement of military, defence potential and power of the country. Additionally, they are to gradually concretise application of legal documents regarding defence industry, which lays the foundation for rapid implementation of projects approved by the MND; quick completion of plans to manufacture and repair weapons and technical equipment, especially the new, modern ones, ensuring safety and quality; active search and expansion of markets, particularly the domestic one; participation in the supply chain of the giant economic groups; completion of production, business targets as planned.

Together with developing the defence industry, the “Determination to Win” Emulation ovement in the entire military needs to focus on improving the effectiveness of international integration and defence diplomacy to create more resources for strengthening national defence power and safeguarding the Fatherland from afar. Departments and units in the entire military are to further grasp and seriously carry out viewpoints and guidelines of the Party and CMC concerning international integration and defence diplomacy, of which priorities are given to relations with neighbouring countries, ASEAN countries, and traditional friends; balance of relations with major powers and strategic partners; expansion of cooperative relations with countries of great potential. These moves serve to strengthen political trust, promote in-depth relationships, increase intertwined strategic interests, and ensure substantive, effective cooperation for the sake of consolidating defence potential of the country. Viet Nam is to participate in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, UN peacekeeping operations, and so forth.

Fifth, active adoption of synchronous, drastic solutions regarding party building and rectification in the Military Party Committee. On the basis of firmly grasping guidelines and instructions of the Party Central Committee and the CMC on party building and rectification, party committees and organisations at all echelons attach importance to leadership of effective implementation of the Action Program for realising the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress and the Resolution of the Military Party Committee on this important work. It is necessary to perfect the Party’s mechanism for leading the military in the new situation; strictly abide by principles on organisation and party meeting, especially the principle of democratic centralism, and regulations of the Politburo and Secretariat Committee on party organisation and political department in the VPA. Departments and units in the entire military strive for effective implementation of the resolutions of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11th, 12th, and 13th tenures) on party building and rectification in association with realising Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW, dated 18 May 2021, of the Politburo (13th tenure) on further stepping up implementation of Directive No. 05 and Directive No. 87 of the Standing Committee of the CMC on enhancing study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style; the campaign of promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new situation, and so on. This will provide the foundation for promoting self-criticism and criticism; formulating working regulations and leadership regulations on key work; intensifying direction on training and disposition of the corps of cadres to meet the requirement of adjusting force organisation in the entire military.

There is a need to pay regular attention to building of representative, strong, pure party committees in connection with building of “exemplary, representative,” comprehensive, strong departments and units. Each cadre and soldier, first and foremost the members of party committees and leading cadres at all echelons, must deeply and fully grasp their responsibility for self-training to ensure that fine dignity of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” is always beautified and leveraged no matter how difficult and complex the situation is.

Emulation is a very practical, good way to enable everyone to make good progress. Emulation is to make units further united, which in turn facilitates emulation forever. Party committees and commanders at all levels need to lead and organise the “Determination to Win” Emulation movement in an effective, scientific manner, which serves to arouse the spirit of solidarity and unlock all potential and creative capacity of each organisation and individual in order to create waves of widespread revolutionary action to successfully carry out military, defence missions in the new revolutionary period. This is a practice deed of the entire military, which vividly demonstrates a thorough understanding of President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology of patriotic emulation.

General, Doctor PHAN VAN GIANG, Member of the Politburo, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defence