Speech by General Secretary and President To Lâm at the National Conference on Implementing the Resolution of the 2nd Plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee

On the morning of April 13, 2026, in Hanoi, the Politburo and the Secretariat convened a nationwide conference to study, learn, grasp, and implement the resolutions of the 2nd plenary meeting of the 14th Central Committee of the Party. Vietnam Economic Journal/VnEconomy is publishing the speech by General Secretary and President To Lâm at the conference. He said he largely agrees with the directions for implementing five thematic topics presented by leaders of central agencies.

The General Secretary noted that, on the previous day, he answered questions from the newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan about the tasks of implementing the Party’s resolutions, including content related to the 2nd plenum of the 14th Central Committee.

He said the rapid and broad developments in the international situation are affecting many areas, including the economy, politics, diplomacy, culture, and science and technology, and are reshaping the global order. Domestically, after the success of the 14th National Congress, the results of the XVI National Assembly elections, and the first session of the XVI National Assembly, he said the country’s path and directions are clear and coherent, and the structure and personnel of the political system have largely been completed. The immediate task, he said, is to act decisively, correctly, and effectively.

Conference focus: turning resolutions into system-wide change

To Lâm said the demand after the conference is to thoroughly grasp, internalize, and implement the resolutions in a decisive, synchronized, and efficient manner, with clear focus and key priorities, to create tangible changes across the entire political system and to diffuse these changes as a development driver across society.

Five priorities emphasized by General Secretary and President To Lâm

1) Party regulations as the “hinge” for unified operation

He emphasized that Party regulations are the mechanism ensuring the Party operates as a unified bloc across the entire political system. He said that if the Party’s line and policy reflect consensus on vision and political will, then regulations institutionalize that vision by organizing will into concrete, operational order. The regulations, he added, ensure cohesion from the central level to localities in all circumstances and stages of development.

2) Reform development thinking and mobilize resources for sustainable growth

He called for fundamentally reforming development thinking and mobilizing all resources and capital to achieve sustainable growth. He said development thinking has long relied on existing resources—state budget, land, and public investment—treating resources as finite and static and emphasizing allocation over creation.

To achieve high, sustainable growth with breakthrough potential, he said the economy must rely on more than a single resource base and should not place the burden solely on the state. He stated that the task is not only to adjust capital structure, but to shift development thinking from resource allocation to creation, guidance, and activation of resources.

He said the state should shift from a direct investor role to designing and creating an environment where social resources are mobilized and allocated through market signals within a transparent and stable regime. In that framework, he said the role of capital should be redefined so that capital flows interact, amplify, and lead one another.

He also outlined how different sources of capital should be directed: state capital should be catalytic and formative to shape development space and reduce initial risk, thereby triggering non-state capital flows; corporate capital, including private and foreign direct investment, should be oriented toward high value-added manufacturing, innovative projects, and knowledge-based value chains; and foreign debt should be used selectively and strategically, aligned with absorption capacity and long-term repayment ability, prioritizing key infrastructure projects and sectors with high spillover effects.

3) Overcome provincial and sectoral mindsets; improve planning and project quality

To Lâm said provincial administrative, sectoral, and term-based mindsets must be resolutely overcome in planning and development. He described planning as spatially oriented development thinking and said comprehensive development planning must be integrated, multi-criteria, and long-term, creating a more rational development structure, using resources more efficiently, distributing development space more evenly, improving regional connectivity, and unlocking future growth potential.

He warned that planning that is closed, fragmented, or locally driven would not open new growth space and could cause conflicts and misallocation. He said each local development plan and sector plan must be considered within the national spatial framework, linked to regional connectivity and aligned with the vision of eastward expansion and western spillover, with a north–south axis as the backbone of national spatial development.

He said every development decision must be evaluated in relation to infrastructure, energy, population, labor, environment, food security, and long-term national development needs, with special emphasis on energy planning. He said modernization cannot be achieved or sustained without reliable, affordable, and well-distributed energy, and that energy must be integrated with industry, urbanization, logistics, digital infrastructure, the green transition, resilience, and national security, ensuring self-reliance.

Alongside planning, he said project development must also change. He called for an end to investment driven by “fashion” or short-term politics, and said all projects must be included in the overall plan and scrutinized rigorously. He said projects should meet national technical and quality standards, be coherent, modern, durable, and serve real development goals, adding that it is unacceptable to invest large sums with low standards or implement quickly with poor quality.

He said a good project should be evaluated based on development impact and genuine socio-economic efficiency, with the degree of public benefit as the central criterion. He emphasized that size should not replace quality, the number of projects should not replace growth quality, and fast disbursement should not replace long-term effectiveness. He added that every amount of capital—state or social—must be assessed for effectiveness, spillover effects, potential to trigger further investment, job creation, value added, competitiveness, and social welfare.

4) Unleash productive capacity and free resources for people, households, and businesses

He said the country must unleash productive capacity and free up resources in the people so that every person, household, business, and enterprise becomes a growth driver. He stated that achieving a two-digit growth target requires both macro stability and micro clarity, adding that if micro conditions are not efficient, capital will not flow to where it is needed, labor will not be used effectively, production may stall, and households and small businesses may lack motivation to grow.

He said the economy is strong only when its individual “cells” are strong, and that realistic growth must develop both from the top down and from the bottom up across every link in the economy—from households and small businesses to producers and enterprises. He said that when internal demand is activated and connected to state resources, infrastructure, markets, technology, training, credit, and planning, a solid internal foundation for steady and sustainable growth is built.

He called for a development environment that makes millions of people feel real opportunity, enabling each household and business to invest and expand legally while maintaining long-term ties to the economy. He also said institutions must be stable and transparent, with reasonable compliance costs, synchronized infrastructure, and open access to markets to generate strong internal motivation, boost innovation and entrepreneurship, and support sustainable development.

He further stated that every mechanism, policy, infrastructure project, and capital flow should aim to activate people’s capacity and ambition, turn potential into growth, and convert trust into long-term development momentum for the country and the economy.

5) Strengthen the effectiveness of the two-tier local government model

He said the two-tier local government model has moved beyond its initial launch phase and is beginning to perform more effectively after nearly a year of implementation. He said it should be viewed within the national governance framework: strong central leadership for strategic direction, institutions, and oversight; strong local administration for execution; and villages playing a pivotal role in operational quality.

He said that in 2026, the central leadership designated it as the “Year of local cadres,” and that each local unit must change. He outlined three steps to realize this.

First, he said villages should be built as empowered units that can decide with clear delegation of authority tied to resources and specific responsibilities, enabling them to proactively address issues ranging from infrastructure and public services to economic and social management. He said clear responsibilities paired with rights would produce real results and reduce overlap and inertia in governance.

Second, he said villages should be empowered to mobilize resources so provinces can coordinate and implement strategic projects more effectively. He said villages are the direct link to local social, economic, and human resources, and that effective mobilization and allocation would help optimize resource use and raise overall implementation capacity.

Third, he said villages should be empowered to monitor and provide feedback. He said a dynamic village level would supply accurate data on local conditions and residents’ needs, enabling provinces to make appropriate, timely, and precise decisions. He described this as a mechanism that drives momentum and ensures the overall effectiveness of local government.

He said that to make villages drivers of provincial governance, all resolutions, policies, and projects must be translated into concrete actions that directly improve people’s lives, promote socio-economic development, and strengthen local competitiveness. He said this is also the foundation to ensure smooth operation, discipline, and efficiency across the political system from the center to the grassroots.

Call for responsibility and building trust for development

To Lâm said the contents he outlined are not only specific requirements for implementing the resolutions, but also have long-term significance for leadership capability, governance competency, and the efficiency of the entire political system in the new development phase. He urged party committees, organizations, and officials from the central to local levels to engage with the utmost responsibility, be more proactive, decisive, and substantive, and place themselves within the overall national development picture.

He added that building trust and momentum across society is essential. He said when people and businesses trust and the system operates smoothly while resources are actively liberated, ambition for development will translate into real power to propel rapid and sustainable growth ahead.