The future for the rising generation

Throughout the historical process of building and defending the country, youth - the young generation - has always held an important position, considered the pillar that determines the prosperity of the nation.

In every revolutionary period since the Party's leadership, youth have always been the vanguard force, playing a core role, from the struggle for independence and national unification to the cause of innovation and socio-economic development.

It can be said that the history of our Party since its inception has always had its mark, clearly demonstrating the role of generations of outstanding and elite youth of the nation. The first General Secretaries, talented leaders of the Party, and great intellectuals of Vietnam have all held important positions since their youth.

In the new period, the role of the youth force is becoming more and more important. The youth is the pillar to bring the country firmly into the new era, the main resource to build and develop new productive forces, and at the same time the pioneer team participating in new fields. The youth is the future owner of the country, an important factor in building the national value system, cultural value system, family value system and Vietnamese human standards.

Achievements and challenges

The maturity, sustainability, and even the destiny of the country depend greatly on the youth force and the young generation. In the sacred resistance wars of the nation against imperialism and foreign invaders to gain independence, freedom, and protect the sovereignty and sacred territory of the Fatherland, millions of young people have dedicated their youth to “die for the Fatherland.”

The history of the nation will forever record generations of young men going to war "with hearts filled with hope for the future" with a spirit "steadier than the Truong Son mountain range", "We will not return until the enemy is gone."

In combat, in building and defending the country, we always see the image of "Youth with three readinesses," "Women with three responsibilities," "Five volunteers," "Wherever there is a need, there is youth, where there is difficulty, there is youth," "Youth taking the lead in the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country" and "Vietnamese youth - dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility"...

In recent years, the young generation of Vietnam has achieved many important achievements in the fields of academics, sports and culture, contributing to affirming the country's position in the international arena.

Vietnamese youth continuously win prestigious awards in international competitions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, informatics, scientific and technical creativity, arts, etc.

These successes demonstrate the intelligence and strong competitiveness of Vietnamese youth in a globalized environment. In the field of sports, young people have also continuously set proud milestones in regional and world tournaments, clearly demonstrating their physical strength and resilient competitive spirit.

In terms of culture, the young generation has been playing an important role in preserving, conserving and promoting the national cultural identity. In the context of international integration, many traditional cultural values ​​of Vietnam have been widely promoted in the world through the continuous efforts of young people in international cultural exchange activities and diverse and creative cultural and artistic programs.

However, besides those achievements, we are also facing many great challenges. Although the quality of Vietnamese human resources has been improved, there is still a large gap compared to developed countries, especially in terms of creativity, labor productivity, practical skills and foreign language proficiency.

Currently, Vietnam is among the 34 largest economies in the world, however, our labor productivity is still ranked 117th out of 181 countries/territories listed, only equivalent to 11.4% of Singapore, 35.4% of Malaysia, not to mention other developed countries.

In recent years, along with the development of the economy, Vietnam has achieved many remarkable achievements in improving the quality of life, education and health care for the people.

However, when it comes to physical fitness, overall health and average height of young people, there is still a clear gap compared to countries in the region and developed countries in the world.

The average height of men in Vietnam in the most recent survey in 2020 was 168.1 cm, and that of women was 156.2 cm, lower than that of countries in the region such as Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

The life expectancy of Vietnamese people is currently 74.5 years, 5-10 years lower than in Japan, South Korea, and Germany. The rate of stunting in Vietnam (19.6%) is also much higher than in developed countries such as Japan or Singapore, showing that childhood nutrition still has a long-term impact on the physical health of young people.

In high-performance sports competitions, Vietnam can achieve good results in sports requiring skills but finds it difficult to compete in sports requiring strength and endurance.

Another challenge is that Vietnam is currently entering the final stage of its golden population period while the population aging phenomenon is taking place at a very rapid rate.

In 2011, the proportion of people aged 60 and over accounted for over 10% of the total population. By 2022, this proportion had increased to about 12.8%, equivalent to about 12.5 million elderly people.

It is expected that by 2036, the proportion of elderly people will reach 20%, meaning that Vietnam will enter the aging population stage. As the population ages, the proportion of workers decreases, the number of dependents increases, leading to an increasing financial burden for the working-age population.

The health and medical care system will also be under increasing pressure as the demand for elderly care increases. This is a major challenge for planning sustainable development strategies to effectively utilize young human resources before entering the aging population stage.

In the context of increasingly strong globalization, the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people is facing a significant risk of being lost. The phenomenon of cultural exchange and integration on a global scale brings many economic and social benefits but at the same time creates great challenges in preserving and promoting traditional cultural values.

Foreign cultural trends, if not received consciously and selectively, can overshadow or even erode the inherent beauty of national culture.

One of the most obvious manifestations of this problem is the change in the lifestyle and thinking of young people. Many young people today easily accept new, modern values ​​from outside and pay little attention to traditional national values.

The popularity of international media, social networks and entertainment has caused many young people to increasingly distance themselves from the nation's unique cultural values, such as traditional art forms, folk festivals, traditional cuisine, and even the moral values ​​and spirit of community solidarity that are unique to the Vietnamese people.

Social evils and crime rates among young people are becoming increasingly complex and are creeping into the lives of a significant number of young people, weakening the nation's race.

In a world of change

The world is entering a period of unprecedented technological and scientific breakthroughs. The rapid and powerful development of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, big data and automation is strongly and rapidly shaping the way we work, live and communicate globally.

This requires each country, including Vietnam, to carefully prepare a young generation that meets strict human resource standards for integration and sustainable development.

Intellectually, today's young Vietnamese generation needs more than ever creativity, critical thinking and the ability to quickly handle technological changes.

Young people must be trained to become pioneers in mastering new technology, with the capacity to research, develop and apply the most advanced achievements into practice.

At the same time, the young generation needs to have global thinking, international communication skills and outstanding foreign language skills to proactively integrate into the international environment, compete fairly and effectively with friends around the world.

However, intelligence alone is not enough. A healthy physique and a strong will are also indispensable conditions for the young generation to adapt and develop in an increasingly competitive global environment.

A generation of physically healthy young people will ensure a high-quality workforce, contributing to the cause of building and defending the country.

Therefore, physical education needs to be given more attention, combined with the construction of a public health system and modern sports facilities to improve overall health and enhance the stature of Vietnamese people.

In the process of deep international integration, the young generation also needs to be educated and nurtured to always preserve and promote the national cultural identity. Culture plays an important role as a spiritual foundation in the comprehensive development of Vietnamese youth.

Culture not only helps shape national identity but is also an important soft power, helping Vietnam affirm its position and image in the international arena.

At the same time, good moral qualities, profound humanitarian spirit and high sense of social responsibility must be constantly nurtured, in order to build a young generation with enough capacity and personality to actively contribute to the common development of society and the world.

In reality, developed countries, world and regional powers all prioritize comprehensive education development, physical enhancement and preservation and promotion of national culture to create high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of sustainable development.

We need to learn and flexibly apply these international lessons to build an excellent generation of youth, ensuring the country's steady development in the new era.

Before the new fortunes of the country

After 80 years of national founding and 50 years of complete national unification and nearly 40 years of implementing the renovation process, our country is entering a breakthrough period in development, opening up opportunities but at the same time facing unprecedented challenges. The country is integrating more and more deeply into the global economy, facing strong changes from breakthroughs in science and technology and global fluctuations.

Looking forward to 2045, the important milestone of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, we set the strategic goal of becoming a developed, high-income country.

To achieve that, Vietnam needs a young generation that is not only intellectually excellent but also physically superior, rich in cultural identity, capable of competing and standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers, affirming the country's position in the international arena.

The consistent viewpoint of our Party and State is to take people as the foundation for sustainable development, because people are both the ultimate goal and the main driving force for social development. And, socio-economic development must aim at satisfying the increasingly higher spiritual and material needs of the people.

Human development becomes a central and strategic issue that determines the success of the country. Therefore, youth work is a matter of national survival, one of the factors that determines the success or failure of the revolution, and an important task for the entire political system and society.

Investing in and developing the young generation has become a top strategic priority in the new period. Building and nurturing a strong, intelligent and civilized generation of young people is a solid foundation for Vietnam to continuously rise up and become a developed country, a symbol of national aspiration, strength and will.

New human development orientation towards 2045

The period from 2025 to 2045 is only 20 years. The babies born during this period will be the new generation of teenagers, the future owners of a prosperous and developed Vietnam.

To move towards 2045 with a vision of a comprehensively developed Vietnam, orienting human development, especially the young generation, becomes a strategic priority.

First of all, we need to invest heavily in education and training to develop intelligence and knowledge. The education system must be extensively reformed, focusing on developing creative skills, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), foreign languages, digital skills and modern technology.

Intellectual education must go hand in hand with cultural, moral and aesthetic education to form well-rounded individuals. At the same time, promoting the spirit of self-study, lifelong learning and building a comprehensive learning society is also a key task.

To build an elite force, we also need special policies to attract young talents back from abroad, building a workforce capable of global competitiveness.

Along with intellectual education is the strategy to improve the health and physical fitness of Vietnamese people. It is necessary to encourage the development of school sports in a systematic and effective manner to improve the stature of Vietnamese people.

We need to set a specific goal that by 2045, the average height of Vietnamese youth must reach a certain level equal to that of developed countries in the region.

To realize this goal, promoting universal health care and building modern sports infrastructure become urgent requirements.

We also need to aim to increase the number of high-performance athletes, aiming to win medals at major tournaments such as the ASIAD and the Olympics, not only in sports that require skills but also in sports that require outstanding physical strength and power.

Culture is an indispensable element in human development strategy. We need to continue investing in preserving and promoting the value of cultural and artistic heritage, while at the same time innovating and modernizing to suit the times.

The goal is to build Vietnamese people with a rich national identity: patriotic, benevolent, creative, integrated without assimilation. Promoting the cultural industry, making culture an economic driving force and national soft power also needs to be focused on.

In the population development strategy, we need to maintain a reasonable population structure, effectively utilizing the current golden population period before entering the aging population period.

Population quality needs to be improved through comprehensive health, nutrition and education programmes. Policies to support young families, encourage replacement fertility and comprehensive child health care need to be implemented synchronously.

Fostering moral qualities, ideals and aspirations for contribution in young people has become especially important. We need to create an environment for young people to actively participate in the fields of digital transformation, green economy and national cultural projects, while encouraging young people to deeply integrate into the international community. Through this, young people will not only absorb the world's quintessence but also spread the unique cultural values ​​of Vietnam internationally.

To realize these major goals, the Party and State will invest strongly and comprehensively in resources to create the best conditions for the development of the young generation, especially the "Generation Rising."

Education, training, sports, culture and population policy will be the top priorities in the national strategy. Every policy and action program aims to improve the quality of life and international competitiveness of the young generation of Vietnam.

The Party and State will continue to build and implement mechanisms and policies to create a favorable environment and conditions for young people to develop healthily, comprehensively, and harmoniously in terms of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics.

It is necessary to research and develop specific and appropriate policy groups to promote the pioneering role of young people in production labor, participate in the 4.0 industrial revolution, take the lead in research and application of technology, national digital transformation, start-ups, innovation; actively participate in implementing projects and works for socio-economic development, ensuring national defense - security and international integration.

At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen solutions to build high-quality young human resources; review, revise and supplement key national policies for young talents; have breakthrough policies on learning, career orientation, vocational training, employment, housing, cultural and sports institutions for young people.

It is necessary to identify specific solutions to prevent, combat and reduce the crime rate among young people; synchronously deploy a set of statistical indicators on young people; and develop a set of criteria for the development of Vietnamese youth at the provincial level.

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union needs to continue to innovate and improve the quality, efficiency, content and methods of its activities in line with the development goals of the locality and the country, improving the material and spiritual life of the people; attach importance to depth and practical effectiveness, ensuring deep and wide access to all classes of youth.

The Youth Union needs to promote the spirit of dedication and the pioneering role of young people in socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security, international integration; developing science and technology, innovative startups, digital transformation; protecting the Party's ideological foundation, fighting against erroneous and hostile views; participating in preventing and reducing the crime rate among teenagers.

In addition to support from the Party, the State and socio-political organizations, the companionship and cooperation from families, schools and the business community are key and indispensable factors in the development journey of young people. Families play a fundamental role, schools are places to train intelligence and personality, and organizations and businesses will be the ideal environment for young people to demonstrate their creativity, practice skills and accumulate practical experience.

Above all, it is the youth who are the decisive force for the success of these goals and visions. Every Vietnamese youth needs to proactively study, practice and constantly strive to assert themselves.

The young generation needs to confidently step out into the world, carrying with them extensive knowledge, healthy bodies and souls rich in Vietnamese cultural identity, while at the same time training themselves to become global citizens with Vietnamese souls, contributing to building and protecting the Fatherland.

With that vision, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country will be an important milestone that our country looks forward to with pride and expectation. On the next 20 years towards that milestone, we share a common aspiration: to build a generation of Vietnamese youth who are brave, progressive, excellent in intelligence, superior in physical strength and rich in cultural identity, confident enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with international friends, contributing to bringing the country to strength and development.