Recent remarks by Nguyễn Thanh Nghị, Head of the Central Committee’s Policy and Strategy Commission, regarding the vision for 2130—which aims to transform Vietnam into a “highly developed socialist country”—have sparked controversy among observers both domestically and internationally.
This is seen as a strategic milestone spanning more than a century—one that serves more as a “pie-in-the-sky” vision than a commitment to action that can be verified in practice even in the short term.
The question arises: Amid such an “ultra-long-term” vision and the myriad immediate internal challenges, how is the political system of the Communist Party of Vietnam positioning the country’s development 104 years from now? And will the gap spanning multiple generations of leadership undermine the feasibility of these goals?
According to experts, setting a goal for 104 years from now inadvertently creates an overly vast timeframe, making it impossible to hold the current leadership accountable or to assess their performance retrospectively.
This is precisely why the majority of informed individuals and public opinion remain skeptical of these so-called far-sighted yet unrealistic and overly ambitious visions.
Meanwhile, urban management in the capital city of Hanoi—where the challenge of ensuring sidewalks aren’t dug up for an entire year remains unresolved—leaves one wondering on what basis Mr. Nghi is proposing a master plan with a vision spanning over 100 years.
Especially when core challenges facing Vietnam’s economy—such as reforming national governance, boosting labor productivity, or finding a way to escape the middle-income trap—remain unresolved.
Furthermore, these “long-term” statements are of the utmost importance, as they are considered the concrete manifestation of national development strategies and serve as a “guiding thread” that runs continuously through many future generations of leaders.
According to experts, until now, strategic development plans and forecasts for Vietnam have typically been limited to a 5-, 10-, or 20-year horizon.
However, the timeframe Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi has just proposed extends as far as 104 years—a span that is startling when compared to that of his predecessors.
The “Vision 2130” immediately faced skepticism from the public: by the time 104 years have passed, virtually the entire current generation of leaders and citizens will have passed away—leaving no one alive to verify whether it was right or wrong.
When a goal is set for a future that is too distant—without being tied to specific, measurable metrics in the short term and without any means of verification—it amounts to nothing more than a laughable “pie-in-the-sky” vision.
In reality, Vietnam’s political system operates based on strict principles; the Communist ideology is the core issue and an immutable, systemic “red line” that applies uniformly to the entire apparatus and cannot be reversed.
Could it be that the concept of reform and liberalization—aligned with Western trends—as previously declared by General Secretary and Chairman To Lam is now becoming a threat to the very survival of the Communist Party of Vietnam under pressure from conservative forces within the party?
Therefore, is Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi’s vision—which extends as far as the year 2130—in reality nothing more than a reactive and evasive measure intended to obscure the reformist ideology aimed at leading Vietnam into the “New Era” envisioned by Mr. To Lam?
Furthermore, in an era where AI—artificial intelligence—is developing at breakneck speed and changing the world by the hour, a forecast for 104 years from now only demonstrates a lack of awareness of current realities and further proves that Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi completely lacks competence and vision.
Therefore, instead of a vision for the “underworld,” public opinion demands a short-term roadmap focused on institutional reform and the development of science and technology to improve people’s livelihoods right now.
Trà My – Thoibao.de
