Speaking at the 13th National Congress of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union on the morning of 25/6, General Secretary and President To Lam assessed that after 95 years of development, the Youth Union has continuously grown, proving itself a reliable reserve force of the Party, a revolutionary vanguard, and a companion of Vietnamese youth.

In the past term, the Youth Union's work and youth movements saw many innovations, focusing strongly on grassroots levels, border areas, islands, industrial zones, residential areas, and disadvantaged regions. Programs accompanying youth increasingly met practical needs; efforts to build the Youth Union, expand the solidarity front, and gather youth achieved significant results.

However, gathering youth outside traditional areas, especially young workers, freelancers, youth in non-state enterprises, and on digital platforms, still faces challenges. Some movements remain widespread and superficial, lacking clear outcomes, requiring the Youth Union to innovate more strongly, decisively, and substantively.

He urged the Youth Union to foster a generation of Vietnamese youth committed to lifelong learning, mastering science and technology, leading innovation, digital transformation, and international integration. In this new era, knowledge, technology, data, innovation, and human quality determine national competitiveness; investing in youth is investing in the nation's long-term competitive capacity.

"A nation aiming for rapid, sustainable, autonomous development and successful integration must possess a generation of youth with strong expertise, solid skills, bright culture, enduring resilience, and rich social responsibility," the General Secretary and President emphasized.

General Secretary and President To Lam attended the National Congress of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. Photo: Hoang Phong

According to him, youth should not merely study for degrees but learn to be well-rounded individuals, to work, create, master life, and serve the nation. Each young person needs to develop habits of self-study, cultivate foreign languages, digital skills, professional skills, critical thinking, cooperation abilities, and adaptability to the rapid changes in society and the labor market.

The Youth Union needs to create an environment for young people to conduct scientific research, engage in innovative entrepreneurship, apply artificial intelligence, and develop green, digital, and circular economies. This will help youth transform dreams into capabilities, capabilities into products, and products into value for the nation.

Regarding the Youth Union's movements, the General Secretary and President demanded the creation of substantive value with measurable results, leaving behind models, experiences, capabilities, and personnel, rather than merely generating enthusiasm. Youth volunteers should engage in difficult, new tasks and operate in grassroots areas.

Emphasizing that today's youth harbor great aspirations but also face significant pressures in education, employment, and career building, he urged the Youth Union to truly become a close, reliable friend: understanding youth, listening to youth, and working with youth to find solutions for their vital issues.

The Youth Union must better care for career guidance, skills training, employment support, entrepreneurship, housing, cultural life, and the physical and mental health of youth. It should pay more attention to young workers, rural youth, post-military service youth, ethnic minorities, religious youth, vulnerable individuals, people with disabilities, reintegrated individuals, and Vietnamese youth abroad.

"Do not let the legitimate dreams of youth be left behind due to a lack of information, opportunities, support, and trust," the General Secretary and President emphasized.

General Secretary and President To Lam spoke at the National Congress of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. Photo: Giang Huy

He also called for building a new generation of Youth Union officials with strong political resolve, pure ethics, digital competence, policy advisory capacity, and the ability to engage in dialogue with youth. They should serve as role models in learning, innovation, dedication, matching actions with words, avoiding bureaucratization, and remaining connected to the grassroots.

The recommendation of outstanding Youth Union members to the Party must prioritize quality, based on political resolve, ethics, capacity for action, reputation among youth, and practical training results. The Youth Union must truly be an environment for discovering, nurturing, challenging, and providing high-quality young cadres for the Party, the State, the Fatherland Front, and the political system.

Affirming that the Party, State, and people place deep trust in Vietnam's young generation, the General Secretary and President expressed hope that each young person would nurture grand ambitions but start with daily actions like diligent study, creative work, living honestly, with discipline, compassion, and responsibility. Each young person, when stepping onto the global stage, must be a beautiful image of Vietnam, confident in knowledge, dignified in character, profound in culture, responsible to the nation, and friendly with international peers.