Speech by General Secretary To Lam at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

It is my pleasure to visit and speak at the Rusian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) on the occasion of the 80^th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Once again, I would like to congratulate our Russian comrades. Over the past days, I and all members of the Vietnamese delegation have received warm and friendly welcome from the Russian leaders and people. Everytime I arrives in Russia, I feel like coming home and meeting family members.

Today, at the RANEPA, once again, I and members of the Vietnamese delegation clearly feel the hospitality and generousity typical of Russia. For me, it is a great honor to share my feelings and thoughts at the RANEPA – the largest university in Russia and Europe. A pool of talents of Russia and the world have been trained and matured at this prestigious educational establishment. More than 1,000 Vietnamese Party and State leaders, including former General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also studied here. I would like to extend sincere thanks to the RANEPA for awarding me the extremely noble title of "Honorary Professor".

Present at this hall today, there are many veterans, dignitaries, intellectuals, experts, researchers, friends from Russia and the former Soviet Union, who have stood side by side with the Vietnamese people in the struggle for national liberation and reunification in the past as well as in building and defending the Vietnamese Fatherland today. I would like to send my warmest greetings and my most sincere thanks to everyone! Hello Russia and my dear Russian friends!

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Victory on May 9, 1945 – the Victory in the Great Patriotic War – is one of the greatest milestones of the 20^th century and of all human history. During the four fierce years of the world war, the Soviet Union became the indormitable bastion of progressive humanity. More than 27 million Soviet citizens died, including millions of Red Army soldiers bravely fought and sacrificed. Such valuable sacrifices will remain engraved in humanity's memory, as writer Olga Berggoltz said: "No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten".

The victory against facism in 1945 ended one of the darkest chapters in the human history, opening a new era of peace, liberation, construction and development. That victory stimulated confidence, determination and inspiration for colonialized peoples to rise up and fight for independence, to escape from the domination of colonialism and imperialism.

Over a century of history has witnessed the special ties between our two countries. Right from 1920s when Viet Nam's revolutionary movement was at the early stage, Russian Soviet – formed following the Great October Revolution – became a beacon illuminating the path to national liberation. President Ho Chi Minh, the founder and leader of the Vietnamese revolution, reached Russia in 1923, studied at the Communist International, and approached Marxism-Leninism.

After the Communist Party of Viet Nam came into existence in 1930, relationship between Vietnamese revolution and the international communist and workers' movement, with the Soviet Union at the center, became increasingly close. Many revolutionary predecessors of the Communist Party of Viet Nam such as comrades Tran Phu, Le Hong Phong and Ha Huy Tap also studied and trained in the Soviet Union and became outstanding leaders of the Vietnamese revolutionary movement. Many Vietnamese officials and intellectuals continued to be sent to the Soviet Union to study and train in the fields of politics, military, science-technology, creating a core team for the cause of fighting for national independence and construction later.

During the resistance war against French colonialism and American imperialism, the Soviet Union offered Viet Nam great, righteous, sincere and selfless support and assistance. The Soviet Union provided Viet Nam with a huge amount of modern weapons and military equipment. Thousands of Soviet experts worked directly in Viet Nam, shared experiences, and accompanied the Vietnamese army and people during the most difficult movements. Without Soviet weapons and equipment, it would have been difficult for us to shoot down the American B53 fortress. Our soldiers might have suffered more difficulties, hardships and sacrifices, and victory might have come later.

Not just in the wartime, the Soviet Union has also been a great friend of Viet Nam during the latter's post-war reconstruction process. During the hardest years, the Soviet Union provided Viet Nam with comprehensive assistance, from economic, cultural, scientific-technological aspects to education and training. Hundreds of economic-technical works, industrial parks, mechanic and chemical facilities, etc, were built with the Soviet Union's capital and technology. Major research institutes, universities and hospitals in Viet Nam all bear the mark of Viet Nam-Soviet cooperation. During the first visit to the Soviet Union, Uncle Ho said: "I love the Soviet people as I love my own compatriots.

Notably, the Soviet Union helped trained tens of thounsands of Vietnamese students and postgraduates in the fields of engineering, healthcare, economy, education and defense. After returning home, this elite group played an important role in the process of modernization and industrialization. The sincere, loyal, selfless companionship, sharing, assistance and noble solidarity of the Soviet Union in the past and the Russian Federation today are precious historical legacies for the two countries to continue to cultivate, build and develop friendly and substantive cooperation relations now and in the future.

Despite geographical distance, our two countries share great similarities in history, spririt, vision and values. As President Vladimir Putin said "We have heroic past in both work and combat".

As the President (Vladimir Putin) assessed: "We both have a heroic past in work as well as in combat."

In the world, there are few countries that have always held such a deep and steadfast affection in the hearts of generations of Vietnamese people as the former Soviet Union and today's Russia. Our fathers' generation and the generations of young people who grew up during the war and difficult days of the country always had a special attachment to Russia. We learned Russian, read Russian literature, watched Russian films and sang Russian songs. Many Russian literary works have become bedside books, contributing to fostering the ideals and revolutionary will of many generations of Vietnamese youth. War and Peace and How the Steel Was Tempered can be considered Vietnamese literary works. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese cadres and students have studied and grown up in Russia and returned to contribute to their homeland, many of whom have become key leaders of the Party and State of Viet Nam.

The symbolic works of the great friendship between the two countries still retain their value today. In Viet Nam, there are the Hoa Binh Hydroelectric Plant, Thang Long Bridge, Viet Nam-Soviet Friendship Hospital, Lenin Monument in Nghe An (the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh) and in Ha Noi. In Russia, there are Ho Chi Minh Square in Moscow and Vladivostok, Ho Chi Minh Monument in Ulyanovsk (the hometown of leader V.I. Lenin) and Saint Petersburg, and the Monument to Vietnamese International Volunteers in Moscow.

All the above-mentioned connections have created "Russia in the heart of Viet Nam" and "Viet Nam in the heart of Russia". That is also the foundation, the solid basis for the traditional friendship and cooperation between our two countries.

Dear comrades and friends,

In the challenging context of more than four decades ago, Viet Nam initiated the Doi Moi process. Overcoming many difficulties, Viet Nam today has emerged as an open and dynamic economy, a bright spot in growth. From a poor, underdeveloped economy, heavily dependent on aid, Viet Nam has now become one of the 35 largest economies in the world and the top 20 economies in the world in terms of attracting foreign investment and trade scale.

Regarding foreign affairs and international integration, from a besieged and isolated country, Viet Nam has established diplomatic relations with 194 countries, actively participated in more than 70 multilateral forums and international organizations, established a network of 36 Strategic Partnership and Comprehensive Partnership frameworks, in which the Russian Federation is one of the first Comprehensive Strategic Partners (in 2012).

Those great and historic achievements, along with the recognition of international friends, have placed Viet Nam at a new historical starting point where we are confidently entering a new era, with strategic and long-term orientations for the next stage. In particular, our focus is to successfully achieve the goals of marking 100 years under the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam in 2030 and 100 years of national founding in 2045, while continuing to remain steadfast with the goals of independence, self-reliance, self-confidence, national pride, multilateralization, diversification, for peace, cooperation and development, proactively and actively integrating comprehensively and deeply into the international community; at the same time, enhancing Viet Nam's contributions and responsibilities in world politics, the global economy and human civilization.

We associate rapid and sustainable economic development with growth model innovation, improving quality, efficiency, and competitiveness with science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and training high-quality human resources as key driving forces. Viet Nam is accelerating the implementation of strategic development projects on energy infrastructure, transport infrastructure, and digital infrastructure, including high-speed railways, North-South expressways, nuclear power plants, while promoting new fields such as semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence, and building regional and international financial centers.

We are also speeding up the streamlining and restructuring of the State and local apparatus, along with promoting breakthrough development in science and technology, innovation and proactive, active international integration, considering this as the "strategic trio" to carry out the key tasks of "Long-term stability - Sustainable development - Improved living standards".

Viet Nam will continue to consistently pursue its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of relations; be a friend, a reliable partner, an active and responsible member of the international community; proactively and actively integrate deeply and comprehensively into the international community; and make more active and proactive contributions to world politics, the global economy and human civilization. Viet Nam always supports the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law.

At the same time, we consistently support and promote the maintenance of a free multilateral trading system based on the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), opposing the politicization of international economic relations and fragmentation of global trade, protectionism, unilateral economic sanctions and unhealthy competition.

Dear comrades and friends,

Viet Nam's development path cannot be separated from the world. We clearly understand that Viet Nam cannot achieve the above-mentioned goals without the pure international solidarity, valuable support and effective cooperation of the international community, including Russia. Consolidating and enhancing the effectiveness of the Viet Nam – Russian Federation Comprehensive Strategic Partnership continues to be one of the top priorities in Viet Nam's current foreign policy, meeting long-term interests, contributing to the development of each country, as well as enhancing the role of the two countries in each region and on a global scale.

In recent years, despites fluctuations in the region and the world, the relationship between the two countries has continued to be strongly promoted. Delegation exchanges and contacts between the two countries have been active, especially at the highest level, with President Vladimir Putin's State visit to Viet Nam in June 2024 and Prime Minister Mishustin's official visit to Viet Nam in January 2025.

Economic, trade and investment cooperation is gradually regaining momentum, with trade turnover in 2024 reaching nearly US$5 billion, an increase of 26.1% compared to 2023. Oil and gas - energy cooperation continues to be an important area of cooperation between the two countries. Defense and security cooperation has been promoted in many directions and diverse aspects, which is an important pillar of the bilateral relationship. The two sides actively coordinate closely and support each other at multilateral forums. Cooperation in education and training, science and technology, culture, sports, tourism, and people-to-people exchange has been actively implemented. Currently, more than 5,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Russia. The Vietnamese community in Russia continues to grow and make an increasingly important contribution to the socio-economic development of Russia. Meanwhile, Viet Nam is one of the most favorite destinations for Russian tourists in Southeast Asia. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, our country was happy to welcome more than 650,000 Russian tourists and in 2024, despite the shortcomings in air traffic, there were still more than 230,000 Russian visitors to Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese delegation and I are very pleased that during this visit, the two countries are expected to sign more than 20 agreements and memorandums of understanding on cooperation in various fields.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our two countries are entering a new era, an era of epochal changes. Each of our countries is changing every day and the world is also witnessing unprecedented movements.

These epochal changes bring opportunities, advantages, as well as many difficulties and challenges to both our countries. However, difficulties are the source of innovation and strong growth, the driving force for our two countries to continue to accompany each other, promote increasingly substantive and effective cooperation, for the future of our two peoples and for peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

Given that approach, we and leaders of the Russian Federation exchanged and put forward the following orientations to further promote cooperation between the two countries as follows:

Firstly, promoting delegation exchanges, consultations and dialogues regularly and substantially at senior and highest levels.

Secondly, heightening economic, trade and investment cooperation - the core area of cooperation in the bilateral relationship. In particular, it is necessary to prioritize and facilitate the expansion of trade, investment and financial-credit relations in accordance with international law and the legal regulations of the two countries to promote the exchange of goods and services. Along with that, it is necessary to expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fishery, mineral exploitation and processing, industry, machinery manufacturing and energy.

Thirdly, fostering defense-security cooperation, which plays a special role in the overall relations between Viet Nam and Russia to promptly meet the demands of the current situation and contribute to ensuring peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

Fourthly, accelerating cooperation in science-technology, innovation, digital transformation, considering it as a key cooperation area of the bilateral ties, including cooperation in basic science, information technology, artificial intelligence, automation, biomedical technology and renewable energy.

As 2026 is designated as the Year of science-technology and innovation cooperation between Viet Nam and the Russian Federation, the two countries need to effectively implement research projects in priority.

We attach special importance to enhancing cooperation in atomic energy cooperation, especially implementing the project to build a Nuclear Science and Technology Research Center in Viet Nam. The construction of a nuclear power plant is a high priority for Viet Nam at present.

Fifth, accelerating cooperation in education and training, culture, arts, tourism and people-to-people exchanges

These are the fields that both countries can expand and deepen cooperation without boundaries. The two countries need to expand the operations of the network of the Viet Nam-Russia technical universities to promote the training of high-quality human resources.

I highly value the outcomes of cooperation between RANEPA and Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Academy of Public Administration, People's Security Academy and most recently Ha Noi Law University and expect that RANEPA will continue to expand cooperation with Viet Nam's research institutes and universities, especially in the fields of public administration, international economics, and international relations.

Both countries need to step up study and teaching of Vietnamese language in Russia and Russian language in Viet Nam, including making full use of the potential of educational institutions in both countries such as the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language in Ha Noi and the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Ha Noi. I hope that the two countries will soon promote the completion of the Viet Nam Cultural House project in Moscow.

The two countries need to further expand tourism cooperation, including increasing the frequency of regular flights and charter flights as well simplifying travel procedures for people of the two countries.

At the same time, exchanges between ministries, agencies and localities and cultural days should be held regularly while contacts betwewen mass media agencies, friendship associations and social organizations should be maintained.

Sixth, promoting cooperation and coordination at multilateral, international and regional forums, including ASEAN, the United Nations and APEC

The two counrties need to continue promoting multilateralism and fair and sustainable multipolar world order, in which Russia is an important polar, based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law; promote the common efforts of the international community in response to non-traditional security challenges, including climate change, cybersecurity, combat of trans-national crimes.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Viet Nam expects the Russian Federation to play a stronger role in maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea, to continue support for resolution of disputes through peaceful measures in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

At the same time, we expect the Russian Federation to continue support for consolidating the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Asia-Pacific regional architecture. Viet Nam wil strengthen close coordination with Russia to further deepen the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership and promote the effective cooperation between the two sides on the basis of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership for the period 2021-2025 and beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The glorious history and great achievements of the country and people of Russia, as well as the proud development of the relations between the two countries have affirmed the special role and position of Russia for Viet Nam, in which RANEPA has made important contributions.

Generations of pupils, students, postgraduates and researchers at the Academy will certainly continue to be the bridges promoting the great friendship between Viet Nam and the Russian Federation.

I would like to express deep gratitude to Russian veterans, intellectuals and exports for their wholehearted affections and support for Viet Nam throughout different periods. All of them will forever be loyal and close friends, comrades and brothers of the Vietnamese people.

Following in our previous generations's footsteps, the young generations of both countries need to be imbued with the noble international spirit which has become a feature of the close, loyal and rare relationship between Viet Nam and the Russsian Federation as well as the important significance of continuing to nurture the solidarity, friendship and close cooperation between the two countries in the new era.

In that spirit, I strongly believe that Viet Nam and the Russian Federation will continue walking side by side on the path toward wealth, prosperity and happiness and the bilateral relations will grow to a new height commensurate with the historical and cultural stature of each country and the requirements of the time.

Wishing you all health, happiness and success!

Thank you very much!