The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) which will hold its opening session tomorrow [January 26] has attracted foreign public attention.

Domestic and foreign reporters cover news on the congress. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

Various media outlets have covered the event which will focus on selecting the upcoming leadership and shaping policy for the next 5 years.

Germany-based Hanns Seidel Foundation, which was founded in 1967 and has been engaged in political research, reported that it will be very interesting to see how the country’s leadership will fill the long-term strategic decisions with life after 2021.

In the article, author Magdalena Knödler highlighted Vietnam’s last year political achievements despite challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The country performed the dual role of the ASEAN chairmanship and non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council. The missions have strengthened its influence in the region with the ratification of some free trade agreement and the upgrading of relations between the EU and ASEAN to a strategic partnership.

The results of the congress will determine the future domestic and foreign policy direction and will be groundbreaking for Vietnam's economy in the next five years.

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), a Germany-based political foundation running over 200 projects in more than 120 countries, stressed on the country’s dual responsibility on the international stage when it became a member of the UN Security Council and assumed the chairmanship of ASEAN.

It emphasized Vietnam’s outstanding achievements in 2020 in health policy and economic terms in a global comparison.

With a system of “collective leadership”, unlike separation of powers in the western sense, the apparatus works on a principle of “coordination of powers” that has developed within the top management designed to achieve strategic consensus on major political issues within the party and to produce cadre true to line, according to the foundation.

Russia-based “Multi-polar world” magazine underlined that the congress will greatly impact on the country’s development in the next five years, including efforts towards modernization, including growth in high technology.

On Russia’s Rassvet (Dawn) TV channel, Grigory Trofimchuk, an expert on international issues, said the CPV maintains close cooperation relations with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation as well as with all political parties in the Russian State Duma.

The expert noted that Vietnam’s position is increasingly improved, not only as a destination for international tourists but also as a venue for many important international events.

Reuters, meanwhile, reported that the single party-ruled country has seen its economy outstrip much of Asia in the past year and is already eyeing average GDP growth of 7.0% over the next five years.

Vietnam is steadily growing into one of the world’s most important tech manufacturing hubs, as well as a center for garment-making, in an economy on track to recover faster than most after the coronavirus pandemic.