The ceremony began with a flag-raising ceremony and a 21-cannon salute, along with an elaborately staged art programme themed "Bright Vietnam".

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam speaks at the national celebration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 30, 2025.

On behalf of leaders of the Party, the State, and the VFF Central Committee, Party General Secretary To Lam delivered an address celebrating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification.

Aspiration to defend national independence and achieve reunification

In his address, Party General Secretary Lam said “in this sacred moment, we respectfully remember and express our boundless gratitude for the great contributions of beloved President Ho Chi Minh - the genius Leader of our Party and nation, the great teacher of the Vietnamese revolution, a hero of national liberation, a great man of culture, an outstanding soldier of the international communist and workers' movements - with the burning desire to liberate the South and reunify the nation.”

“We will forever remember and be grateful for the great contributions of revolutionary leaders, martyrs, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, generations of cadres, generals, officers, soldiers, militiamen, guerrillas, youth volunteers, frontline workers, wounded and sick soldiers, families of martyrs, families with meritorious service to the revolution, veterans, and the entire people's armed forces and people across the country as well as overseas Vietnamese, who devoted and sacrificed their lives for the cause of completely liberating the South and reunifying the country.”

Five military columns march toward the podium.

The leader used the occasion to thank brothers, comrades and international friends, progressive forces and peace-loving people around the world for their great, valuable, wholehearted, loyal, and steadfast support and assistance to the Vietnamese people's cause of national liberation and reunification.

He said with a burning desire to safeguard national independence and reunification, and with the spirit of "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom", the entire Vietnamese people, from Nam Quan Pass to Ca Mau Cape, united to repel the invaders and everywhere marked the bravery, sacrifices and glorious feats of the army and people.

“With the iron will to ‘liberate the South, we are determined to move forward", our army and people secured successive victories, dismantled the enemy step by step, and moved towards complete victory with the climax being the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, reuniting the country.”

The Party chief stressed that the victory of the resistance war against the US for national salvation stemmed from the correct and creative leadership of the Party; from the people’s war policy, carried out through the strength of great national unity and international solidarity; from the combination of military, political and, diplomatic struggles and the art of seizing the right moment to concentrate forces for a general offensive and uprising; from the strength of the great rear base in the North supporting the major frontlines in the South, with the spirit: No a grain of rice is lacking, no soldier is absent; cutting through Truong Son to save the nation; from the great, righteous, sincere and effective support and assistance of the Soviet Union, China and fraternal socialist countries; from the Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia special solidarity; from peace-loving, progressive people and forces worldwide, including the progressive Americans.

Party General Secretary To Lam, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, conferred the ‘Labour Hero’ title on the Party Committee, Government and People of Ho Chi Minh City.

In particular, the Great Spring 1975 Victory strongly encouraged the national liberation movement of the world's people for peace, national independence, democracy, and social progress, opening the way for the collapse of neo-colonialism all over the world and marking a pivotal turning point in human history in the 20th century, he continued.

The leader emphasised that along with its epochal significance, the Great Spring 1975 Victory left behind valuable lessons in both theory and practice for the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation.

“But the greatest lesson, at the same time, the leading factor deciding the victory of the 1975 Spring Great Victory was to maintain the absolute leadership of the Party; to build a strong Party in all aspects; to enhance the leadership capacity and combat strength of the Party throughout the process of fighting for national liberation, national reunification and protecting the achievements of socialism.”

Building upon the valuable lessons from the victory of the resistance war against the US for national salvation, under the leadership of the Party, the entire people and army joined forces to recover, rebuild, construct and develop the country, Lam remarked.

After 50 years of national reunification and nearly 40 years of implementing the Doi moi (renewal) policy, the country has overcome numerous difficulties and challenges to achieve monumental accomplishments of historical significance, creating the foundation, potential, position and international prestige as today, according to the leader.

To realise the aspiration to build a Vietnam “ten times better than today,” we must liberate all productive forces, unleash all resources, and leverage all potential and strengths to strongly promote socio-economic development.

In 2025, we strive to achieve economic growth of at least 8% and double-digit growth in the 2026-2030 period, are determined to successfully implement the strategic goals of becoming a developing country with upper-middle-income and modern industry by 2030 and a developed, socialist-oriented nation with high income by 2045.

The focus must be placed on resolving institutional development bottlenecks; adjusting the economic space, expanding the development space, increasing decentralisation and delegation of authority, allocating and combining economic resources; establishing a new growth model, with science-technology, innovation, and digital transformation as the main driving forces, to create dramatic transformations in productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of the economy, identifying the private sector as the most important driving force of the national economy. Besides, we must continue making breakthroughs in mindset and methods to create new productivity, new productive forces, and new quality.”

Building the country that is “more dignified and beautiful"

The Party leader said “Being proud of the nation's glorious historical traditions, with infinite gratitude for the great contributions and sacrifice of soldiers and compatriots across the country, we are increasingly aware of our responsibility to fulfill Uncle Ho's final instructions before he passed away: "The Party must have a good plan to develop the economy and culture, aiming to continuously improve the people's lives."

Caring for the people and increasingly meeting their material and spiritual needs, especially for those in remote areas, border regions, islands, revolutionary base areas, and former resistance zones, have been the Party's goals.

It is a must to focus on effectively implementing the policies of fairness, social progress, social security and social welfare as well as those for people who rendered service to the nation; implement the tuition exemption policy for all levels of general education; strive to complete the programme on eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses, accelerate the construction of social housing for low-income earners; and pay due attention to healthcare development and public health care, moving towards exempting hospital fees so that every Vietnamese citizen could truly have a secure, safe, free, prosperous and happy life.

As a nation that experienced countless pains and losses due to the wars in the past and also a nation that has enjoyed great benefits from peace and friendly cooperation in recent decades, Vietnam earnestly desires to work with the international community to build a future of peace, prosperity, solidarity and development.

“Let us do all we can today, with the desire to leave to future generations not only a better world, but also the faith and admiration for the sense of responsibility and wisdom of today's generation,” the Party leader stressed.

The 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification is also a historic moment for all Vietnamese people, all classes of people, compatriots of all ethnic groups and religions, Party members and all people at home and overseas Vietnamese, millions of people as one, to unite, join hands, and turn towards the Fatherland for the goal of building a strong, prosperous, civilised and happy Vietnam, he said.

The national flag flies in the sky of Ho Chi Minh City.

In the context of the complicated world situation, as a nation that has suffered many losses and pains due to the wars, deeply understanding the leade values of peace, independence and freedom, it is necessary to continue to strengthen and modernise national defence and security, build all-people national defence for peace and self-defence, firmly safeguard the Fatherland "early", "from afar", and "protect the country when it is not yet in danger".

“Proud of the glorious Party and the great achievements of our army and people under the Party's leadership, we must strive to build a clean, strong and comprehensive Party so that the Party is truly "moral and civilised", representing the intelligence, honour and conscience of the nation and the era, worthy of the trust, choice and expectations of the people.”

“Promoting the spirit of the Great 1975 Spring Victory, and the achievements of the four decades of Doi moi (renewal), our entire Party, people, and army are striving with determination to successfully accomplish the five-year socio-economic development plan for the 2021–2025 period, and to achieve further outstanding accomplishments to welcome the upcoming Party Congresses at all levels, in the lead up to the 14th National Party Congress.”

The leader stressed that “with the mettle, intelligence, and strength of Vietnam, we secured the historic Great Spring Victory; and we are firmly confident that we will continue to attain even greater victories and remarkable achievements in the new era of prosperity, civilisation, and national rise, se standing shoulder to shoulder with the powers of the five continents, fulfilling the aspirations of President Ho Chi Minh and of the entire nation.”