Overseas Vietnamese have high hopes ahead of National Party Congress

Dr. Nguyen Thai Tai, 32, currently working at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, believes in the correct strategic orientations as outlined in the Draft Political Report and other related documents submitted to the congress.

Last year saw the world grapple with the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, an issue that caused the global economy to slip into recession. Under the leadership of the ruling Communist Party, local people united to combat the disease whilst simultaneously rebooting an economy severely hit by the epidemic. Their success story has been recognised internationally, with Vietnam being singled out as a role model in the fight against COVID-19.

Alongside the fight against the pandemic, the country was also confronted with periods of devastating storms, floods, and landslides in 2020, weather patterns which severely damaged Central and Central Highland regions, causing heavy losses to both life and property. However, this level of destruction did not shake the people’s will.

Last year witnessed the national economy grow by 2.91%, a leading figure among economies globally. In addition, the country’s export surplus also hit a record high of US$19.1 billion, ranking the nation as one of the top 10 countries with the lowest unemployment rate worldwide.

Dr. Tai believes that the draft political report to the Party congress serves to illustrate the country’s overall progress over the past five years, as well as charting a path for the coming five years and beyond. It therefore indicates that the Party, with its long-term strategic vision, fully and correctly evaluates conditions for the nation to develop and catch up with the world over the next 10 to 15 years.

“I highly appreciate and totally agree with the contents and orientations mapped out in the draft report because the document was drafted in a selective way, close to reality taking into account challenges of the current 4.0 and future 5.0 industrial revolutions,” notes Dr. Tai.

Furthermore, Dr. Tai suggests that the Party and State offer more preferential incentives in an effort to lure Vietnamese scientists currently residing overseas back to the country to work. According to the intellect, the Party and State have introduced similar preferential treatment policies over the years, but these policies should focus on specific strategies with a long-term vision.

"Talent is a special resource for each nation that needs to be attracted and appreciated as the most important material force in national construction and defence,” stressed Dr. Tai.

He anticipates that the party congress will introduce more breakthrough policies with regard to the matter.

Sharing Dr. Tai’s view, Le Hoang Bao, 28, a research fellow at Florida University of Technology of the United States, expects the Congress to reach correct and timely decisions in order to generate high-quality human resources for the purpose of national development.

He therefore supports the major targets set out in the draft political report, according to which the country aims to become a developing nation surpassing a middle-low income level by 2025, a developing nation with a middle-high income by 2030, and an industralised nation with a high income by 2045.

To meet these targets, Bao says the Party should pay close attention to developing and fostering high-quality human resources in a more substantial way.

According to the research fellow, the number of university students has considerably increased over recent years, although many have yet to meet the criteria for high-quality human resources. Indeed, plenty of graduates do not meet the requirements of employers and therefore are unable to compete with human resources from abroad.

“Whether or not Vietnam will be developed into an industrialised nation relies greatly on training and developing high-quality human resources. This viewpoint should be concretised with specific solutions in national development strategies,” Bao says.

In putting forward potential solutions, he underlines the need to build and foster a contingent of highly-qualified lecturers, increase investment in the education sector’s infrastructure, and develop a syllabus closely linked to practical demand.