International media have been reporting on the 13th National Party Congress, scheduled to take place from January 25 – February 2, that would set the development path for Vietnam in the next five years and eventually to become a high-income country by 2045. 

The 13th National Party Congress will set the development path for Vietnam. Photo: Pham Hung.

Nikkei Asian in its article on January 25 suggested the National Party Congress, held every five years by the Communist Party of Vietnam, would chart the nation’s course for Vietnam in the next five years, as the country seeks to become a new regional hub for low-cost manufacturing and an alternative to neighboring China.

“Vietnam looks to leverage its economic advantage as one of the few countries that expanded gross domestic product in 2020, up 2.9% thanks to efficient handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” it added.

South Korean press on the same day, including KBS, Yonhap and AJU also reported on Vietnam’s largest political event that would decide on the country’s new leadership and priorities for the immediate future, saying the country targets economic growth from 6.5-7% in the 2021-26 period and become an upper-middle income country.

US-based AP stated almost 1,600 leading members of the ruling Communist Party would gather to discuss future policy and select the nation’s top leaders.

Hanoi’s streets are “lined with the party’s hammer and sickle flags and posters to promote the weeklong congress,”, reported the AP. “Some 4,900 people involved with the event must each take two tests for the coronavirus,” it suggested.

The AP cited Murray Hiebert, a senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington as saying that “Vietnam has grown an average of 6% over the past five years and nearly 3% in 2020, when most of its neighbors slumped into recession thanks to the pandemic.”

“It continued to attract foreign investment levels that are the envy of most of its neighbors and got an additional boost as companies sought to move part of their supply chain out of China in the wake of the U.S.-China trade war,” he said.

Argentina’s Infobae reported ahead of the congress, delegates of the 13^th Party Congress laid wreaths at President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum at Ba Dinh Square in the center of Hanoi.

Telesur news from Venezuela reported on the 13th National Party Congress with the motto “Unity – Democracy – Discipline – Creativeness – Development”, adding this is the Party Congress with the largest number of delegates to date.

According to Telesur, major topics in the 13th Party Congress would be the assessment on the realization of resolutions in the past Party Congress tenure, the country’s achievements after 35 years of Doi moi (Renovation), and resolving on the course for development in the five-year period by taking into account the visions and targets until 2030 and 2045.

The US-based Foreign Briefing expects Vietnam’s upcoming leaders to set their focus on “promoting more sustainable growth by diversifying trading partners and improving domestic supply chains before framing its middle power strategy.”

Vietnam News Agency (VNA) cited opinions of Professor Thomas Engelbert from Hamburg University and Economist Daniel Mueller at the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) that one of the major achievements of the Communist Party of Vietnam is to turn the country from an outdated economy with high dependency on agriculture into an emerging one with a focus on trade and manufacturing.

According to two experts, high economic performance has laid the foundation for Vietnam to further integrate into global economy and receive strong attention from foreign investors.

In the global stage, Vietnam’s influence in the ASEAN has been growing since its Chairmanship’s role of the bloc in 2020, while the country is currently potential partner of global economies, including the US and EU.