Making news
14th National Party Congress expected to set breakthrough development vision for Vietnam: Italian scholar
The 14th National Party Congress is expected to establish a breakthrough development vision that will guide Vietnam towards becoming a high-income country by 2045, said Stefano Bonilauri, Director of Anteo Edizioni Publishing House of Italy.
Bonilauri, who won the first prize of the writing contest on protecting the Party’s ideological foundation in 2024, noted that the congress is being held at a time when Vietnam has recorded major achievements of historical significance, creating a strong platform for entering a new phase of national development.
The anti-corruption drive, pursued under the principle of “no forbidden zones and no exceptions”, has substantially strengthened public trust and political stability - two central pillars underpinning the policy direction towards the 14th congress, he said, adding that Party General Secretary To Lam has underscored Party rectification as a means to build a transparent and clean system, removing institutional bottlenecks that hinder development.
Bonilauri underlined that this determination has turned anti-corruption into a “new operational norm”, improving the effectiveness of the state apparatus and public resource management.
Economically, the Vietnamese Government has directly linked political stability to its capacity to attract foreign investment, alongside the ambitious target of achieving 10% GDP growth in 2026. Political stability, he said, is viewed as the decisive factor in Vietnam’s transformation into a high-income economy by 2045, reinforcing the alignment between “the Party’s will and the people’s aspirations”.
On foreign affairs, Bonilauri observed that Vietnam has continued to expand its development space and elevate its national standing. With a flexible and adaptive approach grounded in national interests, self-reliance and resilience, Vietnam’s diplomacy has reinforced confidence in the country’s stability beyond 2026. In an increasingly polarised global environment, this approach enables Vietnam to deepen relations with key partners without being drawn into opposing blocs. Concrete outcomes include strengthened ties with China, the US, Russia, Japan and Australia, while maintaining what he described as “pragmatic neutrality” conducive to attracting foreign investment.
Vietnam is now regarded as a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community, maintaining relations with 95 countries and territories, including all 193 UN member states, alongside dozens of comprehensive and strategic partnerships. Its increasingly broad, balanced and stable partnership network provides a solid foundation for navigating external challenges in a volatile global environment, safeguarding national sovereignty and ensuring the peaceful conditions necessary to achieve development goals through 2045.
Bonilauri further highlighted Vietnam’s shift from “participation” to “active contribution” in UN peacekeeping operations and international humanitarian assistance as reflecting the country’s new standing as a proactive and responsible global actor, extending beyond traditional economic integration. This transition, he said, represents a strategic turning point in national image-building, as Vietnam is no longer merely a recipient of assistance but also a provider of comprehensive solutions, stated the scholar.
He noted that with the adoption of the Law on Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations (2025), Vietnam has institutionalised this commitment, deploying more than 1,100 officers and soldiers to missions such as the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
These contributions have enhanced Vietnam’s international credibility, with engineering units and field hospitals demonstrating both technical expertise and humanitarian values. Notably, the high proportion of female personnel - over 16% - has further reinforced Vietnam’s image as a peace-loving nation. Contributing to global security, he added, is also viewed as a means of protecting national interests “from afar” by strengthening sovereignty through robust multilateral partnerships./.
