13th Party Central Committee convenes 13th plenum

The 13th plenum of the 13th Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, opened in Hanoi on Monday morning, will focus its discussions on preparations for the 14th National Party Congress and socio-economic issues.

Party General Secretary To Lam chaired and delivered the opening speech at the event, which will last until Wednesday, while Politburo member and State President Luong Cuong presided over the opening session.

On personnel matters for the 14th National Party Congress, the CPV has wrapped up nominations for the 14th CPV Central Committee, including both official and alternate members, and both incumbents and newcomers.

By August 20, all Party committees and organizations nationwide had submitted personnel nominations to the Personnel Sub-committee. Drawing on those inputs, the Politburo screened, vetted and locked in the nominee roster, then held internal balloting for the next-term CPV Central Committee and its Inspection Commission.

At the plenum, the Politburo will brief the CPV Central Committee on nomination results and plans for the 14th CPV Central Committee and its Inspection Commission, followed by votes on these lists.

It described this work as “particularly crucial” and “the key of the key” to the success of the upcoming 14th National Party Congress and the country’s future development.

The draft documents for the congress have been carefully and thoroughly prepared, with multiple updates, revisions and supplementations, especially for the contents agreed upon at the 11th and 12th plenums. The contents of the documents generally meet the requirements to be presented at the 14th National Party Congress.

They aims not only to summarize the development over the past five years and set the goals and tasks for the next five years, but also to shape strategic thinking, vision, and the direction for the country's development until the middle of the 21st century.

The documents have distilled and added the core contents of the seven new Politburo resolutions into the Political Report, and as of now there are 17 new points in the draft documents to be presented at the congress.

On socio-economic issues, a strong performance in 2025 was reported despite global headwinds and natural disasters. The country's GDP grew 8.22% in Q3 and 7.84% in the first nine months.

State budget revenue reached nearly VND2 quadrillion ($76.92 billion), or 97.9% of the year's target. The trade surplus approached $17 billion. All 15 key annual targets are expected to be met or exceeded, with full-year GDP growth projected between 8.1-8.5%.

Party chief To Lam, in his opening remarks, stressed that 2026 will be the first year of the new term, crucial for implementing the 14th National Party Congress’s Resolution. He laid out bold targets for next year, including GDP growth of above 10%, per capita income of $5,400-5,500, and CPI growth of around 4.5%.

He urged the CPV Central Committee to give strategic guidance for the Party Committees of the National Assembly and the Government to finalize the 2026 socio-economic development plan and state budget estimate, aiming to drive the country toward “stability, discipline, acceleration, breakthrough, and sustainability”.