Hanoi (VNA) – The Tehran Times has recently published an article by Vietnamese Ambassador to Iran, Nguyen Luong Ngoc, highlighting Vietnam’s 80-year journey of struggle for independence, safeguarding peace, and fostering national development.

According to the article, in 1945, as the Vietnamese revolutionary movement reached its peak, the people rose and reclaimed power during the August Revolution. On September 2, 1945, in Hanoi, President Ho Chi Minh declared the country’s independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – the first workers’ and peasants’ state in Southeast Asia.

In 1986, the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam adopted a landmark resolution that launched the Doi Moi (Renewal) – a comprehensive reform programme, transforming the centrally planned economy into a socialist-oriented market economy. It promoted private enterprise, granted autonomy to farmers, opened the economy, expanded foreign relations, and pursued a policy of friendship with all nations, regardless of political system.

Over nearly four decades of Doi Moi, Vietnam has emerged as a developing country deeply integrated into the global political and economic landscape. The nation now maintains diplomatic ties with 194 countries and has established strategic partnerships and comprehensive strategic partnerships with dozens of them. Vietnam is an active, responsible member of more than 70 international organisations.

Between 1986 and 2024, Vietnam’s GDP grew at an average of 6–7% per year, rising from 8 billion USD to 476.3 billion USD – nearly sixtyfold. GDP per capita climbed from under 74 USD to 4,700 USD, a sixty-three-fold increase. Foreign direct investment reached nearly 520 billion USD from 151 countries and territories in the 1987 – 2025 period.

From 2024 onwards, the Party has identified the country as standing at the threshold of a new stage of development – a decisive “era of rise” aimed at overcoming the middle-income trap. The goal is to become an upper middle-income country with a modern industrial base by 2030 and a high-income country by 2045. To this end, in just the first half of 2025, Vietnam streamlined its administrative apparatus, reducing the number of ministries and central agencies from 22 to 17, merging 63 provincial-level administrative units into 34, and establishing a two-tier local administration system nationwide. These reforms have cut around 100,000 civil service and administrative posts.

Science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation have been defined as “strategic breakthroughs”, while the private sector is recognised as the chief driver of the national economy. Green transition is regarded as an inevitable trend, with renewable energy targeted to account for 28–36% of GDP by 2030 and 75% by 2050. By 2030, the Vietnamese Government also aims to provide universal free healthcare services.

On Vietnam–Iran relations, the article underscored the considerable potential for cooperation. Vietnam expressed its wish to deepen ties with Iran across all fields, particularly in politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges./.