10th Party Congress: CPV Offers Preview, Aims for

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000839

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR VM
SUBJECT: 10th Party Congress: CPV Offers Preview, Aims for
Transparency

Ref: A) Hanoi 767; B) Hanoi 11; C) Hanoi 628; D) HCMC 320;
E) Hanoi 30; F) Hanoi 791; G) Hanoi 771

HANOI 00000839 001.2 OF 003


Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) In a preview of the Communist Party's upcoming 10th
National Congress, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan
underscored that the Party's key focus will be on how to
continue Vietnam's economic and social development efforts.
Sticking close to well-known positions in a presentation to
the diplomatic corps and international press that was aimed
at showing off the Party's transparency, the Deputy Prime
Minister stressed the need for the Party to bolster the "doi
moi" (renovation) policy, fight corruption and tackle
pressing social issues. Contrary to a number of recent
rumors, the Party Congress delegates will not depart from
past practice and directly elect the Party Secretary
General. Instead, they will elect a new Central Committee,
which in turn will elect the Secretary General, Politburo
and Party Secretariat. DPM Khoan did not reveal anything
about personnel changes. End Summary.

Mechanics and Agenda
--------------


2. (SBU) On short notice, the Communist Party of Vietnam
(CPV) convened an April 12 briefing for the diplomatic corps
and foreign press on the April 18-25 10th National Party
Congress (NPC) (Ref A). Deputy Prime Minister and Party
Secretariat member Vu Khoan led the briefing, and he opened

SIPDIS
by explaining that the upcoming congress is the culmination
of six months' work by grassroots Party organizations. Some
1,178 delegates will attend the NPC; of them, 949 will
represent localities and 229 will represent GVN agencies
(these figures are still tentative, DPM Khoan noted). The
1,178 delegates will belong to 73 delegations: 64 groups
from provinces and cities and nine functional blocs
representing State agencies in various disciplines: police
and security; the offices of the President and Prime
Minister; culture and ideology; science and education;
economics; mass organizations and mobilization; external
relations; and, internal affairs. The delegation sizes are
determined by the number of Party members in their
respective organizations and, in the case of regional
groups, the locality's population and "importance."


3. (SBU) On this occasion, and in departure from past
practice, no foreign delegations will be invited to attend
the NPC, DPM Khoan continued. This will allow delegates to
focus on the discussions at hand. During the NPC, there
will be daily briefings for the diplomatic corps and press,
and a post-NPC summary of achievements. "There is nothing
to hide," the DPM averred.


4. (SBU) The NPC will have four main items on its agenda:
review to what extent the goals set at the 9th NPC (in 2001)
have or have not been met; look back on 20 years of
Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy and see what was and
was not achieved; discuss tasks related to Party building,
including amending the Party statutes (Ref B); and, elect
Party leadership in the form of the Central Committee, the
Party Secretary, Politburo and the Secretariat to steer the
Party's work.

Economy Shapes NPC Agenda
--------------


5. (SBU) Driving this agenda will be four main "themes," DPM
Khoan explained. First among them is the recognition that
achieving Vietnam's central task of economic development
requires the Party to increase its leadership capacity and
"fighting spirit." Second is the need to promote Vietnam's
national unity. "Whenever Vietnam is able to come together,
it can do great things," DPM Khoan said. Vietnam's
successes over the past five years are proof of this, and
the Party must tap into the energy and creativity of the
people. The third theme is the need to "boost
comprehensively" the doi moi policy and strengthen the doi
moi process. Finally, tying these three themes together is
the fourth and most important theme of lifting Vietnam from
underdevelopment and low income.

Political Report
--------------


6. (SBU) In the run-up to the 10th NPC, the Party invited
the people of Vietnam to comment on the draft Political

HANOI 00000839 002.2 OF 003


Report, DPM Khoan noted (Refs C and D). In reviewing these
comments, the Party divided them into three categories:
those that were constructive and expressed goodwill and thus
were incorporated into the Political Report and other CPV
documents; those that required further study and
consideration; and, those that required the Party's
"feedback to achieve consensus." This commentary process
was meant to involve not just the 3.1 million members of the
CPV, but the entire population, and even overseas
Vietnamese. (DPM Khoan further noted that Party membership
rolls had increased by 12.3 percent, from approximately 2.5
million members, in the five years since the previous NPC.)
To put the Political Report into final, the NPC delegates
must vote on and approve it.

Vietnam's Successes...
--------------


7. (SBU) The Political Report contains an assessment of the
past five years and the tasks that Vietnam has accomplished
(Ref E). These include: maintaining Vietnam's rapid
economic growth, at an average of 7.5 percent year-on-year;
reducing poverty and eradicating hunger; ensuring the
nation's stability; building a law-based country and
pursuing legal reform; and, underlining the importance of
Party building.

...and What Still Needs to be Done
--------------


8. (SBU) However, there are issues and concerns that still
need to be addressed, DPM Khoan continued. These are:
Vietnam's growth rate is not commensurate with its
potential, and Vietnam needs to increase its economic
efficiency; problems in education and public health remain,
and the poverty level (23 percent) is still too high;
stability, national defense and public security need to be
further improved; and, mass organizations and State agencies
need to catch up with the rest of society. DPM Khoan
explained that these shortcomings are due to a "mindset"
that is not in line with reality; the implementation and
enforcement of laws and decrees are poor; and, personnel
policies remain problematic. However, in spite of these
problems, they do not overshadow everything that Vietnam has
achieved, the DPM said.

Major Tasks
--------------


9. (SBU) Vietnam has set for itself the goal of lifting
itself from underdevelopment and, specifically, seeks to
increase its per capita income from USD 640/year to USD
1000/year by 2010. Sustainable growth with social
development, environmental protection and increased economic
efficiency are Vietnam's top priorities. In public
commentary on the draft Political Report, there was general
agreement on the major tasks facing the nation:

-- Improve the market mechanism;

-- Accelerate industrialization and modernization;

-- Place a high priority on the role of industry, because
Vietnam is still basically an agricultural nation;

-- Stress regional and international integration, including
WTO accession and full global integration by 2010;

-- Emphasize education and training and the development of
human resources for the development of the nation;

-- Pay attention to social equity and poverty reduction;

-- Increase awareness of culture;

-- Continue to strive to maintain a peaceful environment,
defend the nation and maintain stability;

-- Maintain the policy of being a friendly and reliable
partner with all nations (Ref F) and continue to play an
active role in international organizations ("Vietnam must
contribute to, and not just benefit from, international
organizations," DPM Khoan said);

-- Take measures to enhance national unity and the
strengthen the role of mass organizations, address issues
involving ethnic minorities and religious groups;


HANOI 00000839 003.2 OF 003


-- Strengthen the rule of law; and,

-- Improve Party building, which to date has been lacking.


10. (SBU) On this last point, DPM Khoan explained that, to
do this, the Party must concretize and institutionalize the
mechanisms in which the Party plays a leading role, the
Government is an "ombudsman" and the people are the
"master." The Party also has to ensure that it is clean;
right now, there is too much bureaucracy, corruption and
waste, he acknowledged (Ref G).

Leadership Selection Process: Nothing New
--------------


11. (SBU) The DPM explained the NPC will elect the new
Central Committee, and the Central Committee will elect the
Party Secretary General, Politburo and Secretariat. (Note:
In response to a question from a Japanese Embassy
representative, DPM Khoan denied the rumor that, in a change
from the past, the over 1,000 NPC delegates would vote
directly for the Secretary General. End Note.) All Party
members can run for Central Committee positions, and the
process of vetting candidates has been taking place for
several months. Responding to a question from a French
Embassy official, the DPM said that the list of NPC
delegates would not be made public. "It is not secret, but
it also does not need to be published in the press," he
said.

MARINE