Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong addresses a national ceremony in Hanoi on August 30, to mark 50 years implementing President Ho Chi Minh’s testament and the 50th death anniversary of the President. (Photo: VOV)

Addressing the ceremony, Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong said the 1000-word testament has inspired the iron will and determination, ardent belief, the universal truth “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,” patriotism, and the Vietnamese heroism. He said the Ho Chi Minh ideology and the President’s testament have always gone along with the nation, lighting the way for the Party, the people and army of Vietnam in following the revolutionary cause and ideal. Mr. Trong said: “The 50^th anniversary of the testament marks a historic milestone in Vietnam’s revolutionary cause led by the Party. It affirms that in any circumstance, the entire Party, the people, and army should stay united and consistently pursue the revolutionary path chosen by the Party, the people, and President Ho Chi Minh. After 50 years implementing the President’s testament, we are learning valuable historical lessons. They are upholding the flag of national independence and socialism, the revolutionary cause of the people, by the people, and for the people, and constantly consolidating and promoting solidarity among the Party, the people, the nation, and the international community. It also includes a lesson on combing national and era strength, domestic and international strength and a lesson on the correct leadership of the Party, the primary, decisive factor for the victories of the Vietnamese revolution.”

President Ho Chi Minh’s testament, which he began to write in May 1965 and finished in May 1969, four months before he passed away, is a special historic document. It has become a guideline for Vietnam’s revolution and development during the past half century.