Hanoi (VNA)෴ – The 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam officially opened on the morning of January 21 at Hanoi’s National Convention Centre.

Attending the event were 1,510 delegates representing more than 4.5 million Party members, of whom 197 delegates were members of the 11 th Party Central Committee; 1,300 delegates were elected at the congresses of municipal and provincial Party Organisations and the centrally-run Party organisations; and 13 others were from the Overseas Party Organisations, who were appointed by the Party Central Committee in accordance with regulations. Among them, 194 are women, accounting for 12.85 percent of the total; 174 are ethnic minority people, or 11.52 percent; and 99.93 percent of the delegates hold bachelor’s degrees or higher. The oldest delegate is Huu Thinh, 74, who is Secretary of the Party delegation to and President of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, while the youngest is Vang Thi Lun, 27, who is member of the Party Committee of Nam Nhun district of the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau and Secretary of the Nam Nhun district Youth Union. Guest delegates included former Party General Secretaries Do Muoi, Le Kha Phieu and Nong Duc Manh; former Politburo members and former State Presidents Le Duc Anh, Tran Duc Luong and Nguyen Minh Triet; former Politburo member and former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai; former Politburo member and former National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Van An; together with the former Politburo members, former Party Central Committee Secretaries, former Vice Presidents, former Deputy Prime Ministers, former NA Vice Chairpersons, former Party Central Committee members from the second to sixth tenures, and members of the 11 th Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission. The Congress’s opening ceremony also saw the attendance of representatives of veteran revolutionaries, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, outstanding professionals, artists, religious dignitaries and young people. Foreign ambassadors, charge’d affaires and country representatives of international organisations in Vietnam were also present at the ceremony. Politburo member and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on behalf of the Presidium, chaired the opening ceremony. Politburo member and President Truong Tan Sang, on behalf of the Presidium, delivered the opening speech. At the opening ceremony, a Hanoi delegation, on behalf of people nationwide, offered congratulations on the Congress. On behalf of the Presidium and the Congress, Politburo member and PM Nguyen Tan Dung thanked the people of Hanoi and from across the country for the love, confidence and attention shown. He also expressed his wish that the Party Organisation and people of Hanoi will continue to reap greater achievements to make the city, with the thousand-year culture, prosper so well, deserving the noble titles of the “Heroic Capital City” and “the City for Peace”. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivered the 11th Party Central Committee’s report on the documents of the 12th National Party Congress. Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Le Hong Anh then presented a report reviewing the leadership of the outgoing 11th Party Central Committee. Meanwhile, Truong Thi Mai, Party Central Committee member, member of the NA Standing Committee and head of the NA Committee for Social Affairs, and member of the Congress’s Secretariat, read the list of 170 foreign political parties and organisations which had sent letters of congratulations on the 12th Congress as of January 18. On behalf of the Presidium and the whole Congress, Politburo member and PM Nguyen Tan Dung thanked international political parties, organisations and friends for their friendship, cooperation, care, encouragement, support and assistance given to the Vietnamese Party and people. He affirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam will continue intensifying the friendship and cooperation with international political parties, organisations and friends, contributing to peace, national independence, democracy and social progress in the world. In the afternoon, delegates worked in groups, discussing the document of the 12th National Party Congress.-VNA