Power
The people's foreign affairs work has many advantages. It is thanks to Uncle Ho's great, complete and total thought. Besides, the Party's consistent guidelines on People's Foreign Relations have been formed and developed through each period of the country. In that consistent way, there is a very important point that always attaches importance to People's Foreign Affairs. In the Party Congresses, the Resolutions mentioned the People's Foreign Affairs, showing the Party's and State's concern, respect and belief in this work.
Along with that, the precious lesson through periods of national construction, fighting against France, against US, fighting in the Southwest border, the Northern border, normalizing relations with the US, cooperative friendship in the process of integration ... are valuable historical experiences of the People's Foreign Affairs.
Besides, in the blood of every Vietnamese people, there is peace, peace, desire to live in friendship, cooperation with all countries. It is also convenient for our People's External Affairs. It can be said that the whole foundation for our People's External Affairs and VUFO as a specialized organization for People's Foreign Affairs is very solid.
Challenge
However, the work of People's Foreign Affairs still has some difficulties. That is the perception of People's Foreign Affairs at all levels of government is still uneven. Many officials still do not fully understand and deeply understand the People's Foreign Affairs and its role.
In addition, it can be seen that there is no agreement between the guidelines and policies of the State, leading to different provinces and cities having different views on People's Foreign Affairs.
Subjectively, our forces are quite strong but there are many limitations. That is the political awareness, understanding of the lines and tasks of the People's Foreign Affairs and VUFO is not deep enough. The force is large but not strong enough. Some areas still follow the movement, lack of depth. The most difficult thing is in our own movement to keep up with the requirements of the new situation.
Lesson
Since I was a student studying in the Soviet Union, I started the first step in people's foreign affairs when working at Moscow Union. However, when I started working at VUFO in 1992, I began to study deeply about Uncle Ho's ideology about People's Foreign Affairs. Our country is a small country, in order to be successful in the revolutionary career, there must be international solidarity, especially solidarity with the people of the countries. In order to do so, we must understand ourselves, understand them, must have an understanding of their culture and language; find common similarities; taking the righteous cause as a guideline for movement; taking perseverance, sincerely making the way to approach and respect each other as a premise for dialogue and taking common aspirations for a better future but building long-term and sustainable relationships with each other.
Mr. Vu Xuan Hong takes a picture with the leader Fidel Castro during his visit to Cuba
I always remember Uncle Ho's teaching about People's External Affairs which is very simple but profound, that is: You must tell the truth and sincerity so that anyone who knows Vietnam will love, unite and protecte Vietnam more. Those who do not know Vietnam are more knowledgeable and sympathetic, thus turning to support for Vietnam. And it is a success to make those who have once resisted so vehemently to become less aggressive. It is as simple as that, but it is the philosophy of the people's foreign affairs and art to mobilize friends to support our cause of justice.
People-to-people relations are the relationship of people with people. It is very important to take pressure from the people to influence the leadership of the country, causing them to change their attitude in a way that benefits Vietnam. People-to-people relations must create a positive social effect and favorable public opinion of the people of foreign countries to create strong support for us on the battlefield as well as for the support of our policies in peacetime.
It can be said that Vietnam is a very human and typical example of the art of turning enemies into friends. We are not only faithful to our friends, righteous in everything but also tolerant, always wanting to be with the international community. We do not forget the past but are brave and alert to tell the world that the past is a reality and the future depends on all of us.
I firmly believe that in 2019, with the leadership of VUFO, with a new atmosphere, and with a lot of activities throughout the years, today generations of people working in the People's Committee At VUFO, we will create new victories. I would like to wish you a happy and successful new year and health to all of those noble people working in the People's Foreign Affairs!
