The First Scientific Conference outside Vietnam towards the 13th Congress of the CPV

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On December 19, 2020 Ho Chi Minh Institute of St.-Petersburg State University held the on-line conference on “The Changing Role of Vietnam in Contemporary World: towards the 13th Congress of the Communist Party”. The Vietnamese side estimates it as the first scientific conference outside Vietnam on the occasion of the forthcoming Congress of the CPV. The participants were representatives of the chief research centers on Vietnam in Russia: the Institute for Far Eastern Studies and the Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS, the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, St. Petersburg State University, Far Eastern Federal University and other higher education institutions of Russia, as well as those of Indonesia and Kazakhstan. The reports delivered by veterans of Vietnamese Studies in Russia and young researchers were heard by a big audience of professors and students, research-workers and practitioners, representatives of Russian and Vietnamese media. The conference was welcomed by K.V. Vnukov, the Ambassador of Russia in Vietnam, Ngo Duc Manh, the Ambassador of the SRV in the RF (Figure 1), N.M. Kropachev, the rector of St. Petersburg University, and A.A. Kardo-Sysoyev, Deputy Trade representative of the RF in the SRV. Figure 1. The Ambassador of the SRV in the Russian Federation Ngo Duc Manh greets the participants of the conference. Source: Facebook K.V. Vnukov gave a short survey of political and economic achievements of Vietnam in 2020, having noted that it is one of few countries of the world, which could maintain positive indices, despite the COVID pandemic. Ngo Duc Manh spoke on the preparations towards the Party Congress in Vietnam. N.M. Kropachev told of partner relationships of the University with Vietnamese higher education institutions, about the study of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology at various faculties of the University and called Vietnamese colleagues to work together to develop curricula according the model of double degree, as well as common on-line courses on various education platforms, which could contribute to propagate knowledge of Vietnam and of Ho Chi Minh’s views around the world. A.A. Kardo-Sysoyev dwelled on modern condition and perspectives of trade and economic relationships of the RF and the SRV. He noted that in the eyes of foreign investors Vietnam has the advantage of other ASEAN countries due to the stability of the political system and of the high security level for foreign citizens staying in the country. The first report was delivered by V.N. Kolotov, Professor, the Head of The Far East History Department, Director of Ho Chi Minh Institute of St Petersburg University. The expert reported on Vietnam development strategy in the documents of the 13th Congress of the CPV. He emphasized that the forthcoming Congress will elect a new, the fifth generation of Vietnamese leaders, whose prospect is to fulfil the historic task to transform Vietnam into a developed industrial country with the high middle-income level and later with the high level of income. Professor Kolotov drew attention to the fact that all previous generations of the country leaders fulfilled historical tasks, too: from the Party creation and the revolution to the defense of independence, unity and successful development of the country. Professor Kolotov is convinced, that “the Vietnamese leadership has development strategy of a long term in accordance with Ho Chi Minh’s standpoint to maintain their own course, in spite of volatile surroundings”. The reporter said that the political program of the CPV is based on complex modernization, from the education of high-quality human resources to the increase of efficiency of control. The expert thinks that in the process of building market economy with so called socialist orientation, Vietnam uses those elements of capitalism and socialism, which will be beneficial to the Vietnamese people, given the levers of economic control maintain in the hands of the State. The conference reflected main problems and challenges for Vietnam, emphasized in the preliminary materials of the Congress. Ye.Ye. Vlasov, Deputy Vice-Rector for International Relations of Far Eastern Federal University, analyzed effective activity of Vietnam in the role of ASEAN President in 2020 and the causes of its success in the fight against Covid-19. D.V. Mosyakov, Head of the Center of Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS, and G.M. Lokshin, a senior researcher of the Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies of the Institute of Far Eastern Eastern Studies of RAS, spoke about Vietnam's aggravated reaction to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and Hanoi's desire to internationalize the settlement of the conflict. Hendra Manurung, an Indonesian researcher, assessed the SRV development and the country’s contribution to the stability in the Southeast Asian region from the viewpoint of Jakarta. In her report V.V. Vershinina, expert of the ASEAN Center of Moscow State Institute of International Relations, showed that Vietnam possesses all parameters to be recognized by the international community as “the middle-level power”. V.M. Mazyrin, Head of the Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, analyzed economic development of Vietnam for the period of the previous five-year plan and gave short-term forecast. He stressed that the main indicators of the 12th Congress of the CPV had been fulfilled, what ensured the unique progress of the country, but some plans could not be realized, including the GDP growth rate for the five-year period, because of COVID pandemic in 2020 along with some other problems. The expert noted that not all indicators planned for the next five years and for a more distant future (up to 2045) are feasible, in particular, income growth per capita. Narekesh Arnur, a young researcher from the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan) revealed the advantages of Vietnam due to the transitions to this country of some elements of industrial chains from China; M.A. Shpakovskaya, Professor of the Peoples’s Friendship University of Russia, spoke on the attitude of Vietnam to the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). M.A. Lysenko from the State Academic Institute for Humanities focused his report on such an important theme as food security of Vietnam and spoke on the structure of the country’s food market. One of the most important modern challenges for Vietnam and the State is maturing in the sphere of cybersecurity, and on the threshold of the Congress this problem is becoming more sensitive, as N.V. Kolotova, Master Candidate of St. Petersburg university has shown. M.A. Syunnerberg, Assistant Professor of the Asian and African Countries Institute of Moscow University, gave a detailed analysis of the status of women in modern society of Vietnam and of their role in political, social and economic spheres; and N.V. Shafinskaya, Assistant to the Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, who had worked 10 years in the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Hanoi, settled down the task to correct the education policy of Russia in Vietnam. In the Conference also participated A.Ya. Sokolovsky, Professor of Far Eastern Federal University, who touched the question of modernization of Vietnamese script. Ngo Duc Manh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the SRV in the RF, gave a high assessment to the conference, organized by Ho Chi Minh Institute. He said: “I am convinced that Russian Vietnamists understand the problems of our country very well. There have been raised the most important questions, such as: the situation in the South Chinese Sea, market economy and socialist state in Vietnam, food security and cybersecurity, education questions. Vietnam wants only peaceful settlement of the South Chinese Sea issue. I am sure that Russia could play the important role for this. Our aspiration is that the economic successes achieved due to market economy should be of benefit to the total population of Vietnam. To combine capitalist principles of economy and socialist ones in the State is not easy, but we work well. We have the precise development concept, and this is the cause of our success both in economic and social areas, as well as in our fight against the COVID. Being a graduate of a Russian high education Institute, as the ambassador in and a friend of Russia, I think that our countries must increase economic cooperation, realize new big projects; then Vietnamese graduates from Russian high education institutes will never be out of work and the relationships between our countries will strengthen and improve.”

About the authors

E. V Nikulina

Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: elenavtn@mail.ru
Researcher, Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies

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