Government for development, integrity and public service

On the morning of January 21, Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Government Party Committee and Deputy Prime Minister, delivered a presentation at the 14th National Party Congress entitled “Building a development-enabling, integrity-driven Government that acts decisively and serves the people.” She stressed that the 2021-2025 term was an exceptionally challenging period, unprecedented in scale and complexity.

Facing these challenges, under the Party’s leadership, the Government steadfastly upheld its overarching approach in governance and administration: development-enabling to shape strategic vision, establish institutions, lead the way and mobilize all social resources; integrity to uphold core values and sustain public trust; decisive action to translate the Party’s guidelines and State policies into tangible outcomes felt and enjoyed by the people; and serving the people as the supreme objective aligning the Party’s will with the people’s aspirations for prosperity and happiness.

This approach was vividly reflected across all sectors, as the Government, together with the entire political system, the armed forces and the people, overcame formidable challenges and achieved significant, highly commendable results.

The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted achievements including the creation of a stable foundation for fast and sustainable socio-economic development, fulfillment of 22 out of 26 key targets exceeding all social indicators.

Macroeconomic stability was maintained, inflation kept under control, major balances secured, and GDP growth in 2025 reached 8.02%, with a five-year average of 6.3% among the highest globally placing Vietnam in the group of upper-middle-income countries.

Alongside economic growth, cultural and social development recorded notable progress; social security was ensured; people’s living standards and quality of life improved. Vietnam emerged as a successful model in achieving Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction, while the World Happiness Index ranked the country 46th out of 143, up 37 places compared with 2020.

The Government also implemented three strategic breakthroughs to energize national development. Notably, in line with the Party’s directives, it decisively advanced the restructuring and streamlining of the state apparatus and the establishment of a two-tier local government system opening new development space and enhancing national governance efficiency in service of the people.

Administrative reform and modern national governance were accelerated, with stronger decentralization and a shift from command-based management to governance grounded in data, technology and service outcomes. Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation were vigorously promoted in the spirit of the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW. Vietnam ranked 44th out of 139 economies in the 2025 Global Innovation Index.

The Government also worked to maintain a peaceful, stable environment conducive to development. Throughout the term, anti-corruption, anti-waste and anti-negative practices were pursued resolutely under the principle of “no forbidden zones, no exceptions,” reinforcing trust among the people, businesses and international partners.

Six priority tasks highlighted

Grounded in the spirit of the 14th National Party Congress, as the country enters a new stage marked by historic shifts, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra emphasized that the Government will continue to fully embrace its mission of development-enabling governance, integrity, decisive action and public service focusing on six priority tasks:

First, making breakthroughs in institution-building and improvement to unlock all resources for development considered the “breakthrough of breakthroughs” and a source of national competitive advantage. Institutions must truly shift from control to facilitation, reducing compliance costs for citizens and businesses while igniting aspiration, confidence and determination across society.

This includes institutionalizing the 14th Party Congress Resolution and core thematic resolutions of the Politburo, while ensuring a transparent, predictable legal framework to drive rapid and sustainable growth alongside macroeconomic stability, inflation control and balanced development.

Second, accelerating industrialization and modernization, restructuring the economy and fundamentally renewing the growth model placing science and technology, innovation and digital transformation at the center, with high-quality human resources as the key driver of new growth engines.

Strategic autonomy will be strengthened by developing foundational and spearhead industries, promoting the digital, green, circular and knowledge economies, and effectively leveraging new development spaces and business models. The roles of the state sector, private sector and foreign investment will be advanced in line with Party resolutions.

Third, prioritizing synchronized, modern strategic infrastructure to create new development space. The Government will mobilize and efficiently utilize resources, improve investment effectiveness, expand public-private partnerships and refine mechanisms to lower input costs and enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods internationally.

Fourth, placing greater emphasis on culture and social development as foundations for fast and sustainable growth. Social policies will continue to center on people and happiness, ensuring equity, inclusiveness and sustainability closely linked with economic development and the principle that no one is left behind.

Fifth, modernizing national governance with service effectiveness and public satisfaction as benchmarks; accelerating the development of a digital government, digital society and digital citizens on a unified, interoperable data platform. Decentralization and delegation will be strengthened under the principle of “local decision-making, local implementation, local accountability,” while improving the quality and performance of the two-tier local government system.

Integrity culture, discipline and accountability will be reinforced, alongside continued anti-corruption efforts and the building of a cadre of officials who dare to think, act and take responsibility upholding honor as a sacred value and public service effectiveness as the core measure, with national interests paramount.

Sixth, strengthening national defense and security to safeguard independence and sovereignty and ensure peace and happiness for the people building comprehensive people’s defense and security postures anchored in strong public consensus.

Emphasizing that “the spirit of the Congress is one of trust and aspiration, breakthrough and action, discipline and creativity, unity and development,” Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra affirmed that these values will continue to drive the Government’s efforts upholding integrity as the foundation, decisive action as the commitment, and service to the people as the supreme goal working with the entire Party, people, and armed forces to swiftly translate the 14th Party Congress Resolution into reality and realize the aspiration for a prosperous, civilized and happy Vietnam.