Ho Chi Minh City: 50 years of implementing Vietnam's foreign policy and orientation in the new period

Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan spoke at the workshop.

The workshop was chaired by Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan and Acting Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Pham Dut Diem. Also attending were former Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong and experts and researchers from the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management; Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities; Saigon University; Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations...

The scientific conference was held to summarize the role of foreign affairs in the development of Ho Chi Minh City since the reform, and to discuss achievements, lessons learned and orientations for the development of economic diplomacy, culture and international cooperation in the new period. At the conference, delegates proposed solutions to improve the effectiveness and pioneering role of foreign affairs in the process of integration and sustainable development of the city.

Recognizing the important and persistent contributions of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan highly appreciated the department's proactiveness, flexibility and creativity in implementing foreign affairs activities.

According to Mr. Vo Van Hoan, the Department of Foreign Affairs has played a good role as a bridge between the city and international partners, diplomatic missions, international organizations and the overseas Vietnamese community, while ensuring effective coordination between local authorities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The quiet but effective efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs have made an important contribution to enhancing the image and position of Ho Chi Minh City in the international arena," Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan emphasized.

Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan also affirmed that the city government will continue to closely cooperate with central ministries and branches, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to effectively implement a comprehensive and modern foreign policy, aiming at sustainable development and serving the interests of the people.

The workshop was organized into three thematic sessions with in-depth content. The first session focused on evaluating the 50-year journey and the city's outstanding contributions to the country's foreign affairs. The second session revolved around the foreign affairs strategy in the new period (2025-2045), in the context of global trends such as digital transformation, sustainable development and non-traditional security. The third session provided an open academic discussion space, where experts and former leaders gave sharp counter-arguments, aiming to propose practical solutions to help the city effectively implement local foreign affairs in the coming time.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan delivered a welcome speech online.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Duong Dinh Ba, former Deputy Head of the City Party Committee's External Relations Committee, former Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations, emphasized that over the past 50 years, under the leadership of the City Party Committee and the City People's Committee, together with the close coordination of the Department of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies, people's foreign affairs have made important contributions to the cause of protecting, building and developing the socio-economy of the city named after Uncle Ho.

He also expressed his belief that the harmonious coordination between Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy will continue to strongly promote the role of Vietnamese diplomacy in the international arena. This will contribute to helping the country become a developed country with a high per capita income in the region by 2045.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, said that Vietnam's history of struggle and innovation has gone through three eras: from the August Revolution in 1945, to the renovation and development process starting in 1986, and now the period of strong growth, originating from the 14th National Party Congress.

In this context, building a modern and effective national governance is an inevitable requirement to meet the challenges and development opportunities of the times. This not only promotes growth but also requires each locality to improve its governance capacity and take advantage of new opportunities.

Contributing comments at the workshop, former Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong acknowledged that during the period of deep integration (from 2000 - 2020), the city has achieved important achievements in foreign affairs.

However, Mr. Phong also pointed out that there are still many limitations and shortcomings in reality. Notably, Ho Chi Minh City is still limited in terms of strategy and orientation and lacks a comprehensive and long-term strategy.

“Although Ho Chi Minh City is known as a dynamic city, it lacks a consistent image and message to position itself internationally like Seoul as a Smart City or Singapore as a Green Hub,” Mr. Phong said, suggesting that Ho Chi Minh City needs a more innovative, modern and professional mindset in implementing foreign affairs.

In his closing remarks at the workshop, Acting Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs Pham Dut Diem highly appreciated the in-depth discussions and multi-dimensional contributions, showing that foreign affairs has always been an important part, making practical contributions to the cause of protecting, building and developing Ho Chi Minh City over the past half century, from the period of innovation, opening up and integration to the period of proactively reaching out to the world, foreign affairs have always played a key role.

The workshop also opened up many important directions for the next stage of development, including improving the quality of economic, cultural and people-to-people diplomacy, promoting international integration at the local level, and promoting the city's pioneering role in modern local diplomacy.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-50-nam-trien-khai-duong-loi-doi-ngoai-viet-nam-va-dinh-huong-trong-giai-doan-moi-310894.html