Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, April 19 (VNA) -- The ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam officially opened at the Ba Dinh Hall in Ha Noi today, on April 19, 2001.

Attending the Congress are 1,168 delegates (two absent for health conditions) from 70 delegations of 61 cities and provinces as well as central-level Party organizations, representing nearly 2.5 million Party members across the country.

Present at the Congress are 80 guest delegates, including advisors and a former advisor to the Party Central Committee, former Party Politburo members, former Party Central Committee secretaries and members, former Vice Chairmen of the National Assembly, former Deputy Prime Ministers, veteran revolutionaries, Vietnamese heroic mothers, renowned scholars and intellectuals and representatives of Vietnamese young generations.

Also attending as guests of the Party Central Committee are 34 international delegations from the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, led by Party Chairman Khamtay Siphandon, who is also President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic; the Communist Party of China, led by Hu Jintao, member of the Standing Board of the Party Politburo and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China; the Cambodian People's Party, led by Chea Sim, Party President and Senate Speaker of the Kingdom of Cambodia; and other friendly Parties throughout the world. The Australian Socialist Democratic Party delegation attends the congress as an observer.

Present at the opening session are foreign Ambassadors and Charges Affaires as well as representatives of international and non-governmental organizations in Ha Noi.

Also on hand are almost 450 reporters from 129 Vietnamese media and 48 foreign media organizations and press attaches of Ha Noi-based embassies.

Prior to the Congress, the delegates including Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu paid a tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, the Party's founder, at his mausoleum, and laid a wreath at the Monument to Martyrs in the Bac Son street.

Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu met with foreign head delegates before the congress.

The congress officially opened at 9:00 am.

Among those present on the Presidium were Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu; members of the Standing Board of the Party Politburo: State President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh, President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee Presidium Pham The Duyet; former Party Central Committee Advisor Vo Chi Cong, and Advisors Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh and Vo Van Kiet; and Politburo members of the eighth Party Central Committee.

Party head delegates from Laos, Khamtay Siphandon; China, Hu Jintao; Cambodia, Chea Sim; and other countries are also present on the Presidium.

Phan Van Khai, member of the Standing Board of the Party Politburo, presided over the opening session.

Pham The Duyet, member of the Standing Board of the Party Politburo, took the floor to introduce the congress delegates and Vietnamese and foreign guests.

Tran Duc Luong, member of the Standing Board of the Party Central CommitteeEs Political Bureau, delivered the opening speech.

With boundless sentiments, the congress observed a minute of silence in memory of President Ho Chi Minh and those Party members, cadres, soldiers and compatriots who had laid down their lives for national construction and defence, of Nguyen Van Linh - former General Secretary of the Party, Pham Van Dong - former Advisor to the Party Central Committee, the Party Central CommitteeEs Politburo members and Party Central Committee members who passed away after the eighth National Party Congress.

Tran Duc Luong stressed: "Our PartyEs ninth National Congress has historical tasks, namely to review the 71-year path of the Vietnamese revolution, to make assessment of the five yearsE implementation of the Resolutions of the eighth National Party Congress, 15 years of renewal, ten yearsE implementation of the socio-economic strategy in order to get profound experiences and lessons, thus developing and improving policy and defining national construction strategy for the first two decades of the 21st century. The congress is also tasked to review the PartyEs leadership, work out orientations and tasks to build up our Party to be appropriate for the nationEs requirements in the new period, amend and supplement the Party statute, elect a new Central Committee that really represents political capacity and revolutionary morality, wisdom and ability in order to successfully accomplish the Resolutions of the ninth National Party Congress."

Representatives of people of all walks of life in the capital city of Ha Noi and compatriots across the country took the floor to applaud the congress.

Le Kha Phieu, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee, eighth tenure, delivered a report on documents to be presented to the ninth National Party Congress. These documents include:

- Political report,

- Ten-year socio-economic development strategy from 2001 to 2010,

- Orientations, tasks and plan for five-year socio-economic development from 2001 to 2005,

- Report on Amendments to the Party Statute, including the establishment of the Party Central CommitteeEs Secretariat and termination of the Standing Board of the Party Central CommitteeEs Political Bureau.

A national congress is the highest leading body of the Party. The ninth National Party Congress, which reflects the aspiration, will and wisdom of the whole Party and people nationwide will make decisions on strategic policies and orientations to build and defend our Fatherland in the first years of the 21st century and elect the highest Party leading body between two congresses, i.e. the Party Central Committee, the ninth tenure, the Political Bureau, and the Party Central CommitteeEs Secretariat.

The ninth National Party Congress is a congress of "wisdom, democracy, unity, and renewal", showing the whole Vietnamese nationEs staunchness and great hope for the goals of a "prosperous people, a strong prosperous country, an equitable, democratic and civilized society" during the important period of the new millennium.

The documents of the ninth National Party Congress are the results of the energy and wisdom of the entire Party and the entire Vietnamese people, including overseas Vietnamese. The Party Central Committee has received millions of comments from Party cadres and members, from people living inside and outside the country, which demonstrate the close ties between the Party and the people as well as between the people and the Party. These documents - real results of the wisdom and unanimous will of our Party and people towards the destiny of our Fatherland - aim to bring into full play the whole nationEs strength, continue the renewal process, accelerate the industrialization and modernization efforts, and build and defend the socialist Fatherland of Viet Nam in the early years of the new century.

Vietnamese delegates delivered addresses in the afternoon, including:

- Nguyen Duy Quy, delegate of the central-level Party organizations of the sciences and education sector,

- Le Huu Nghia, delegate of the central-level Party organizations of the ideology sector,

- Tran Van Dang, delegate of Phu Tho ProvinceEs Party Organization,

- Cu Thi Hau, delegate of the central-level Party organizations of mass mobilization sector, and

- Cu Hoa Van, delegate of central-level Party organizations of the first sector.

Foreign delegates who took the floor included:

- Khamtay Siphandon, Chairman of the Lao PeopleEs Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of the Lao PeopleEs Democratic Republic, and head of the LPRP delegation,
- Hu Jintao, member of the Standing Board of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Vice-President of the PeopleEs Republic of China, and head of the CPC delegation,

- Chea Sim, Chairman of the Cambodian PeopleEs Party (CPP), Senate Speaker, and head of the CPP delegation,

- Jorge Luis Sierra Cruz, Politburo member of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP), and head of the CCP delegation, and

- Choe Thae-bok, alternate Politburo member and Secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly, and head of the WPK delegation.

Within the framework of the congress, the Press Centre of the ninth National Party Congress held a press conference on "Achievements of the 15 years of renewal and ten-year socio-economic strategy from 2001 to 2010" in the April 19 afternoon. The press conference was chaired by Tran Xuan Gia, member of the Party Central Committee and Minister of Planning and Investment.--VNA