The Party Central Committee, the National Assembly, the State President, the government and the Fatherland Front on April 29 held a grand ceremony to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the south and national reunification (April 30).

Prominent among those present at the anniversary were Party Secretary General Nong Duc Manh and his predecessors, Do Muoi and Le Kha Phieu, State President Nguyen Minh Triet and former state president Tran Duc Luong, NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam.

Other party members and ranking government officials also joined the event with revolutionary veterans, heroic Vietnamese mothers, heroes of the armed forces and labour, and leaders of ministries, agencies and mass organisations as well as representatives of foreign diplomatic corps in Hanoi .

Addressing the ceremony, State President Triet said the whole people of Vietnam will forever keep in mind their gratefulness to late President Ho Chi Minh and former party leaders, revolutionary soldiers and those who laid down their lives for peace and independence.

The 1975 Great Spring Victory is also a victory of international friendship and solidarity, said President Triet while expressing thanks to the governments and people of Russia , China , Laos , Cambodia and Cuba as well as the international community for their support for the Vietnamese people during the war.

President Triet underscored that the victory turned a new page in the nation’s history, and was a glorious landmark, both for the nation itself in its long history of unceasing struggle against foreign invasion, and in the history of the world, in which it figures as one of the great triumphs of the 20th century.

After nearly 25 years of renovation, Vietnam ’s economy has steadily grown while socio-political stability and national defence have been guaranteed. The country’s status in the international arena has been lifted while its people’s lives increasingly improved.

These achievements attest to the sound leadership of the Party as well as the solidarity and combined efforts of the entire Party, people and armed forces.

In the future, the President said, the party, government and people will continue to bring into play the nation’s strength, step up the renovation process, build a more transparent political system, boost economic development and improve the socio-economic and cultural life for all the people.

He reiterated Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, cooperation and development, multilateralisation of international relations, and initiative in international integration.

In the coming time, the Party will soon start congresses at all levels to prepare for the 11th National Party Congress. President Triet emphasised the most important task in this context is to promote democracy and mobilise the intellectual power of the whole Party and people.

He also reaffirmed Vietnam ’s commitment to pursuing its targets along the road to socialism.

Also on the same day, a delegation of the Party, NA, State, Government and the VFF headed by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh laid a wreath at the Martyrs’ Memorial.