Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong and other members of the Presidium vote to adopt the agenda of the 13th National Party Congress. (Photo: VNA)

Singapore-based The Straits Times said the nine-day event with the participation of nearly 1,600 delegates will select new leaders and shape policy for the next five years and beyond. It also highlighted Vietnam’s success in containing COVID-19, that has helped its economy outstrip much of Asia in the past year, and further noted that Vietnam is already eyeing average annual gross domestic product growth of 7 percent over the next five years.

Malaysia’s The Star, meanwhile, reported that the total of 1,587 delegates representing more than 5.1 million Party members nationwide at the congress makes this the largest number ever in the history of Party congresses.

It quoted Mai Van Chinh, deputy head of the CPV Central Committee’s Organisation Commission, as saying that women and members of ethnic minority groups account for 13.99 and 11.03 percent of the delegates, respectively.

The guests will include former Party and State leaders, ambassadors, and heads of international organisations in Hanoi, representatives from the intelligentsia and arts community, outstanding youth union members and religious officials, among others, it said.

Nguyen Xuan Thang, Director of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, was also quoted by The Star as saying that among the documents submitted to the Congress, there were “numerous new items, especially in terms of approach.”

The agenda of the congress focuses on reviewing the implementation of the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress associated with the evaluation of 35 years of the implementation of “Doi moi” (Renewal) policies and the 10-year socio-economic development strategy 2011-2020, and outlines the socio-economic development orientations and tasks for the 2021 – 2025 period and goals and orientations to 2030 and the national development vision to 2045, it added.

According to the Malaysian news agency, all the preparations for the congress have been completed, from security to logistics and reception.

It reported that Vietnam has gone through 53 consecutive days without any new COVID-19 cases in the community. The total confirmed cases in the country was at 1,548 with 35 deaths as of January 23.

According to VNA, the UK’s BBC and Financial Times and the US’s AP also ran articles on the first day of the congress./.

Compiled by BTA