Hanoi (VNA)𝕴 – The 10th National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) opened in Hanoi on October 17, gathering representatives of people from all walks of life, demonstrating the typical image of the great national solidarity bloc.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam attended and delivered a speech at the congress, which also saw the attendance of Politburo members: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, and Permanent member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat Luong Cuong, among others. The three-day congress, themed "Solidarity - Democracy - Innovation - Creativity – Development”, have brought together a total of 1,052 delegates representing various classes, ethnic groups, religions, armed forces, overseas Vietnamese, and VFF officials at all levels. Opening the event, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the 9th VFF Central Committee Do Van Chien underlined that the congress aims to make objective and comprehensive assessments of the situation of people of all classes and the great national solidarity bloc as well as the outcomes of the implementation of the 9th National VFF Congress for the 2019-2024 tenure, thus pointing out shortcomings and lessons. At the same time, participants will sketch out orientations, objectives and tasks as well as the action programme of the VFF for the 2024-2029 tenure, while electing a VFF Central Committee, Presidium, Standing Board, President, Vice President - General Secretary and Vice Presidents, and approving the adjustments and supplementations to the VFF Charter, said Chien. The VFF leader expressed gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh who laid the foundation for the great national solidarity, and paid tribute to heroic martyrs, war veterans, revolutionaries, intellectuals, people from all religions and ethnics, and overseas Vietnamese for their contributions to the cause of Fatherland construction and defence. He said that ahead of the 10th National Congress, VFF congresses at all levels were held in 10,597 communes, 704 districts and 63 cities and provinces. At the events, people expressed their expectations that the Party and State will continue to design suitable policies to remove difficulties and bottlenecks to strongly develop the national economy, create more jobs and ensure stable income for people, while increasing investment in climate change response and natural disaster prevention and control, creating livelihoods, reducing poverty sustainably, especially in remote, border, island and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, promoting the application of advanced and modern technologies, speeding up administrative reform, strengthening the fight against corruption, negative phenomena and wastefulness, and encouraging individuals to contribute their intelligence and efforts to the cause of Fatherland construction and defence. Chien expressed his hope that participants, with their highest consensus, joint brainpower and highest sense of responsibility, would contribute opinions on orientations, tasks and solutions to successful achieve all goals set by the congress. Speaking at the opening session, Vice President and General Secretary of the 9th VFF Central Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Ha delivered a report highlighting its major activities. In the previous term, the front work continued to achieve significant and comprehensive results; the national great unity bloc was maintained, and the deep-rooted relationship and trust between the people and the Party and State were continuously strengthened. Patriotic emulation movements and major campaigns initiated or coordinated by the VFF, such as "All people unite to build new-style rural areas and civilised urban areas," "Vietnamese people prioritise using Vietnamese goods," "All people unite to combat COVID-19," and "For the poor - Leaving no one behind," continued to make significant impacts on society, helping inspire a spirit of competition, learning, and production, and foster collaboration across the community. Hundreds of trillions of Vietnamese dong was mobilised from various resources at home and abroad through the Vietnam Fatherland Front system to support the construction of charitable houses, assist the poor, provide disaster relief, and implement social security initiatives. In addition, the VFF Committees at all levels and its member organisations have always been a “reliable address” for listening to, sharing, and gathering the opinions and petitions of voters and the public to convey them to the Party, State, and relevant authorities. Over 20,000 opinions and petitions from voters and citizens were reflected in the sessions of the National Assembly; and nearly 86,000 social consultation meetings and more than 200,000 supervision sessions were organised at various levels. For the 2024-2029 term, the congress set forth six action programmes, including enhancing communications and mobilisation efforts to gather people from all walks of life, strengthen social consensus, and promote the strength of the national great unity bloc; improving the quality and effectiveness of social supervision and feedback, democracy practice, and participation in the building of the Party and State; and encouraging people from all walks of life to engage in emulation and innovation, to effectively implement campaigns and movements. The programmes also focus on promoting the people's ownership and self-governance spirit, and building cohesive, prosperous, and happy residential communities; increasing the effectiveness of people-to-people diplomacy and overseas Vietnamese affairs; and continuing to innovate organisational structures, contents, and methods of operation, while enhancing the capacity of grassroots front officials./.