Strengthening Party’s leadership over signing and implementation of international commitments

On behalf of the Party Central Committee, Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu signed and issued Directive No. 56-CT/TW dated December 24, 2025, on strengthening the Party’s leadership over the signing and implementation of international commitments.

Politburo member and Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu (Photo: Dang Khoa)

Directive No. 56-CT/TW clearly states:

International treaties, agreements, and unified declarations and exchanges between key leaders and foreign partners (collectively referred to as “international commitments”) are the result of foreign policy activities and important tools for expanding and strengthening relations with countries and partners, participating deeply in the process of international and regional integration, contributing to the successful achievement of the country's development goals, and enhancing Viet Nam’s international standing and prestige.

However, the signing and implementation of international commitments in the past have revealed some limitations and shortcomings. In the context of a rapidly changing and complex global and regional situation, presenting both challenges and opportunities, in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of signing and implementing international commitments, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat requests that Party committees and organisations at all levels focus on leading and directing the effective implementation of the following key tasks and solutions:

1. Party committees, organisations, cadres, and Party members should continue to raise awareness of the importance of signing and effectively implementing international commitments for the development, position, and prestige of the country; identify this as an important task within the overall foreign policy and international integration guidelines of our Party, contributing to strengthening the overall national strength.

Party committees provide comprehensive leadership through guiding policies and are primarily responsible for the content, effectiveness, and feasibility of international commitments within their respective areas of management; they direct the handling or propose solutions to competent authorities to definitively resolve obstacles and emerging issues. They must eliminate the mindset of prioritising quantity over quality, valuing form over substance, and refrain from signing impractical or unfeasible international commitments.

2. Strengthen guidance, inspection, supervision, and monitoring of the signing and implementation of international commitments, ensuring compliance with the Party’s guidelines and regulations, the State’s policies and laws, and safeguarding the highest national interests; contributing to deepening and strengthening Viet Nam’s relations with other countries and partners, consolidating a peaceful, stable, cooperative, and developmental environment. Take advantage of new development trends, enhance the ability to respond to emerging issues; proactively participate in building a fair, democratic, and progressive international order in line with Viet Nam’s interests. Strictly and effectively implement the reporting system; establish appropriate mechanisms to review, guide, inspect, supervise, and urge the signing and implementation of international commitments.

Resolutely combat and refute the false and distorted narratives of hostile and reactionary forces regarding the policy of signing and implementing international commitments; preventing conspiracies and activities that exploit international commitments to infringe upon national security, social order, and safety, undermine national unity, and disrupt the Party and State's guidelines and policies. Innovate information, communication, and dissemination of the content of international commitments, targeting beneficiaries or those affected; ensuring effectiveness and substance.

3. Review and improve Party regulations and State laws, and streamline processes to facilitate the signing and implementation of international commitments; strengthen state management, promote decentralisation and delegation of power, and simplify administrative procedures to remove institutional bottlenecks in the signing and implementation of international commitments; ensure the effectiveness of impact assessments and the compatibility between international commitments and domestic laws; and establish a mechanism for consultation and feedback on difficulties and obstacles faced by beneficiaries or affected parties (especially businesses and citizens), experts, scholars, and social organisations.

4. Enhance the responsibility and proactive spirit of the lead agency in planning negotiations, signing, and implementing international commitments with a clear roadmap, especially in high-level foreign affairs activities, creating substantive changes in the process of proposing and implementing international commitments. Specifically, international commitments recorded in statements and exchanges agreed upon by key leaders with foreign partners should be incorporated into action programmes and work plans of ministries, departments, and localities, or into international treaties and agreements.

Ministries, departments, and localities should proactively review existing international commitments within their scope and areas of responsibility, assess achievements, shortcomings, limitations, causes, and identify solutions to overcome them and improve implementation efficiency; strengthen coordination to effectively implement international commitments, avoiding duplication and overlap. Establish inter-ministerial working groups and teams appropriate to the actual situation to carry out multi-sectoral and multi-field work. Promote strategic research and forecasting on major global and regional trends, especially in the country's priority areas; timely advise and propose policies for signing and promoting a leading role in building new international commitments in accordance with the country’s specific capabilities and conditions; detect, prevent, and appropriately handle early on any arising issues, obstacles, difficulties, and complaints related to the implementation of international commitments.

Actively and proactively promote the implementation of multilateral international commitments in international and regional mechanisms and forums; participate in the development of regulations and standards on emerging issues in line with the country’s interests, based on the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.

5. Allocate and ensure the necessary and appropriate resources for the signing and implementation of international commitments; effectively utilise international funds, support, and contributions from businesses while adhering to the regulations of the Party and the laws of the State. Build, train, and cultivate a team of experts and officials with strong political and moral character, solid professional competence, and in-depth knowledge of international law, international economics, international relations, and specialised fields. Mobilise the appropriate participation of experts and scientists in the research, consultation, and proposal process for signing and implementing complex international commitments with significant and intertwined impacts across multiple fields.

6. Promote international cooperation in the implementation of international commitments. Leverage international knowledge and experience; select and actively participate in organisations and forums for lawmaking, especially in the fields of economics, trade, environment, science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and cyberspace, to promptly update new international regulations and standards, selectively adopt best practices suitable to the country’s reality; research and develop a set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of implementing international commitments.

Encourage partners to fully, in good faith, and effectively implement international commitments, thereby strengthening cooperative relations and maximising the benefits from international commitments and external resources for national development. Utilise bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to address obstacles and issues arising during the implementation of international commitments.

7. Apply science and technology, and promote digital transformation in the management, monitoring, and statistical analysis of the implementation of international commitments and the assessment of compatibility between international commitments and domestic laws. Effectively manage and systematise information through the creation of a database on international commitments; ensure consistency and uniformity in the implementation of international commitments involving multiple sectors and localities, avoiding duplication and waste of resources.

8. Implementation

- Provincial and city Party committees, Party committees at all levels, and Party committees directly under the Central Committee shall organise the dissemination of the Directive and shall be responsible for leading, directing, guiding, inspecting, supervising, urging, and evaluating the implementation of the Directive within their assigned responsibilities.

- The Party Committee of the National Assembly and the Party Committee of the Government shall coordinate in leading and directing the completion of legislation on the signing and implementation of international commitments; and strengthen supervision, inspection, and monitoring as prescribed.

- The Party Committee of the Government shall lead and direct the development of an action programme to implement the Directive.

- The Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to monitor, supervise, and inspect the implementation of the Directive and periodically report the results to the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee; and conduct preliminary and final reviews of the Directive as prescribed.

Source: NDO