Ambassador Nguyen Minh Tam highlights significance of 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
WVR - The 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party will be held in Vientiane from January 6-8, 2025.
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| Scene from the 12th Central Committee Meeting of the 11th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. (Source: Laotian Times) |
This is a significant political event for the Party, State, and people of Laos, marking a new phase in the country's revolutionary development. On this occasion, Nguyễn Minh Tâm, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Lao People's Democratic Republic, wrote an article titled: The Lao People's Revolutionary Party - Leading Every Revolutionary Endeavor to Success, with the following content:
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (formerly known as the Lao People's Party) was established on March 22, 1955. It inherits the glorious legacy of the Indochinese Communist Party and the heroic revolutionary tradition. The Party is the organized vanguard, the highest political organization of the working class and the Lao people's democratic regime, consistently representing the rights and interests of the working class, laborers of all ethnicities, and the entire nation of Laos.
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party steadfastly adheres to Marxism-Leninism, the thoughts of Caysone Phomvihane, and the Party's noble traditions as the ideological and theoretical foundation, guiding the Party's organization and activities.
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party has undergone 11 Congresses. Over the past 70 years, the Party has matured, enduring the challenging revolutionary struggles, making significant sacrifices for national independence and the freedom of the Lao people. The Party has consistently affirmed its role as the core of Laos' political system, steering the revolutionary ship of Laos from one victory to another, culminating in the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975.
After the country's establishment, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party charted the course, setting directions and tasks for the revolution in the new phase: Protecting the new regime, restoring the national economy, healing war wounds, improving people's lives, and building socialism. The Party has continuously matured and earned deep trust from the people, leading the armed forces and the entire Lao population to firmly protect independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, ensuring basic social order and security, fostering economic development, improving people's living standards, advancing culture and education, and strengthening governance from central to local levels.
Entering a new phase of protecting, building, and developing the nation, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party continues to lead the Lao people to achieve significant and comprehensive achievements in the renewal process.
Initially, the focus is on renewing thought, transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a market economy with state management, prioritizing economic development, leveraging the strengths of all economic sectors, ensuring legal equality, and expanding international cooperation. The Party emphasizes cultural and social development, focusing on comprehensive human resource development, promoting cultural traditions and national heritage, improving social welfare, and enhancing the quality of life for the people.
The people's armed forces, through steadfast implementation of the comprehensive national defense and security strategy under the Party's direct leadership, have grown stronger. The foreign policy aligns with global and regional changes, enhancing the Party and State of Laos' role and position on regional and international forums.
Through restructuring Party organizations at all levels, renewing leadership methods and working styles, and closely coordinating the Party's leadership with the activities of state agencies, the Front, and mass organizations, the Party's leadership capacity and role in the political system have been enhanced, meeting the revolutionary demands in the new phase. This also strengthens the great unity among the Lao people, turning it into the nation's comprehensive strength, further perfecting the people's democratic regime.
In the context of complex, rapid global and regional developments affecting global peace, stability, and security, under the correct leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party in implementing the 11th Party Congress Resolution, Laos has achieved significant and important accomplishments in various fields:
Political and social stability continues; Laos' political system is continuously consolidated and improved, with the leadership role of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party increasingly affirmed. Party building and rectification efforts are emphasized; discipline and order throughout Laos' political system are strengthened. Additionally, administrative reforms and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of state management in Laos have yielded positive results.
National defense and security remain strong. Laos continuously enhances its defense capabilities, strengthens domestic security, and actively participates in regional defense and security cooperation mechanisms, contributing effectively to maintaining peace, stability, and sustainable development in Southeast Asia.
The economy gradually recovers and grows relatively steadily, with the economic structure shifting positively, maintaining an average growth rate of 4.2%; inflation is controlled, decreasing from 22.96% in 2022 to 8.3% in 2025; state budget revenue exceeds plans for five consecutive years; total trade turnover reaches USD 84,406.01 million (trade surplus of USD 8,475.75 million); total mobilized capital reaches 387,372 billion Kip, 189% of the plan; aid capital reaches 54,493 billion Kip, 146% of the plan; domestic private sector and foreign direct investment reach 266,494 billion Kip, 266% of the plan; investment from other sources reaches 44,305 billion Kip.
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| The relationship between the two Parties, two countries, and the peoples of Vietnam and Laos will continue to deepen, becoming more practical and effective across all fields. |
Per capita income gradually increases, reaching USD 2,138, with the material and spiritual life of the people continuously improving; poverty reduction and development programs in remote areas achieve practical results, reducing the poverty rate from 18.3% in 2019 to 15% in 2025. Many key infrastructure projects in transportation, energy, hydropower, and logistics are implemented, enhancing domestic and regional connectivity.
Cultural and social development is increasingly emphasized, with the national education system undergoing transformation; improving teaching and learning quality, promoting scientific research and innovation. Focus is placed on healthcare, protecting and enhancing public health, implementing policies for those with meritorious services to the country, and social welfare, ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the Lao people; preserving and promoting cultural heritage with national identity; labor management is emphasized; encouraging state and private sectors to participate in development, vocational training for 159,837 people; creating jobs for 464,514 domestic workers and those working abroad.
The state power apparatus is increasingly consolidated, providing a solid foundation for state management by law, aligning with the goal of building a people's democratic state into a rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people, with a streamlined, flexible, effective, and efficient state apparatus at all levels; the number of central administrative agencies reduced from 17 ministries and 3 equivalent agencies to 13 ministries and 2 equivalent agencies. Inspection, supervision, and post-inspection handling are strengthened rigorously and decisively.
Laos' foreign relations are continuously expanding; its international position and reputation are increasingly enhanced. Laos actively participates in ASEAN and regional and international organizations, contributing responsibly to common issues. Laos has established diplomatic relations with 151 countries and party relations with 145 political parties in 82 countries. Successfully hosting the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits left a positive impression.
Approaching the 12th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, I am confident that with meticulous, serious, methodical, and scientific preparation, incorporating many innovations in thought, quality, combining theory and practice, steadfastness and innovation, inheritance and development, as a process of supplementing and perfecting the renewal path set by previous Congresses, the 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party will be a great success.
The Congress is a significant political event for the Party, State, and people of Laos, of special importance in continuing to comprehensively and synchronously promote the renewal process, opening a new development phase for the Lao revolution. From the Congress's outcomes, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party will lead the Lao people to achieve new, greater achievements in the renewal, protection, building, and development of the country, successfully building a peaceful, independent, democratic, unified, prosperous Laos, advancing steadily towards the socialist goal.
Along with the 12th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, in the coming days, the Communist Party of Vietnam will hold its 14th National Congress. I believe that with the traditional special solidarity relationship between the two Parties, two countries, Vietnam and Laos, the relationship between the two Parties, two countries, and peoples will continue to deepen, becoming more practical and effective across all fields, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries, contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.
