A solemn meeting was held in the capital city of Hanoi on May 18 to celebrate the 120th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, a national liberation hero and a world-acclaimed man of culture.

Prominent at the ceremony were Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam, and many revolutionary veterans.

In his speech, Party General Secretary Manh recalled the great contributions the beloved President has made to the revolutions for national liberalisation and socialism as well as the struggle for peace, independence, democracy and social progress in Vietnam and the world. He highlighted the profound significance of President Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts and the example set by his life and career.

“Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts will always light the way for the Vietnamese revolution and lead our nation to a bright future,” stressed the Party chief.

He underlined opportunities and challenges facing the Vietnamese revolution, adding the Party must grasp, follow consistently, develop and apply creatively Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts in order to supplement, better and develop the Party’s guidelines in line with the country’s development requirements during the new stage.

Regarding the nation’s major tasks in the time being, the General Secretary emphasised the need to improve the Party building work and enhance the unity within the Party, describing it as the nucleus of national solidarity.

From now until mid 21st century, the entire Party and people should spare no effort to build Vietnam into a socialist-oriented industrial nation, he said.

To this end, the entire Party and people must steadfastly uphold national independence and socialism, and speed up the industrialisation and modernisation process combined with developing a knowledge-based and a socialist-oriented market economy, the Party leader said.

The entire nation should build up an advanced culture imbued with national identities, firmly protect national defence and security, and implement a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, development and active international integration.

Promoting the socialist democracy, strengthening national solidarity, building a socialist law-governed State of the people, by the people and for the people, and making the Party cleaner and stronger are also majors tasks for the time to come, he noted.

The General Secretary affirmed that Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts are an invaluable heritage of the Party and nation, adding that their practical and noble value lies in its close link with the life, “deeds speak louder than words”. Being imbued with Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts, the Party is determined to successfully realise the President’s teachings, he said.

In regard to 2010 - a year of important events, the Party leader called upon the entire Party, people and army to follow Ho Chi Minh’s Thoughts and moral example, continue to enhance the Party’s leadership and combating capacity, step up the renewal process, successfully build socialism and protect firmly the Fatherland.

A role model among young people in the movement of studying and following Uncle Ho’s teachings, Nguyen Thuy An from the central province of Nghe An, pledged loyalty to the noble revolutionary ideal chosen by the Party and Uncle Ho. “We young people will continue to study and practise following Uncle Ho’s example so that we can contribute more to the process of national renewal and construction,” she said.

UNESCO Representative in Vietnam, Katherine Muller Marin, said in 1987 the UNESCO General Conference adopted a resolution recommending that member states join in the commemoration of the birth of President Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese national hero and a great man of culture, in order to spread the knowledge of the greatness of his ideals and of his work for national liberation.

“Today, many people from around the world celebrate his birth because he has been considered an outstanding symbol of national affirmation who devoted his entire life to freeing Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, thereby contributing to the common struggle of all people for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress,” she said.

The representative highlighted President Ho Chi Minh’s huge contributions in the areas of UNESCO operations such as culture, preservation of cultural heritages, communications, gender equality, protection of the environment and natural resources, education and diplomacy.

“Ho Chi Minh has made great contributions in the fields of culture, education and the arts, and has made clear his interest in the aspirations of people as they strive to affirm their cultural identity and promote mutual understanding.

“Ho Chi Minh was a man of vision who foresaw the grandiose flourishing of this nation and therefore contributed to developing a new style of Vietnamese diplomacy that has led Vietnam to a successful positioning in the region and the world, very much in line with UNESCO-promoted concepts of peaceful cooperation and world mutual understanding.

“Ho Chi Minh believed in the value of communication and introduced a new style of journalism in the country, focusing on the nation and the people as main news topics,” Marin said.

The official concluded her speech by quoting the famous words of Ho Chi Minh which are still so valid and powerful in today’s world context: “Nothing is more precious than independence and liberty.”

Before attending the meeting, the leaders of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, and others laid a wreath in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

The delegation also laid a wreath at the monument dedicated to fallen combatants in Hanoi./.