President Nguyễn Minh Triết: The elderly is society’s valuable internal resource

The meeting heard that in its second term (2001-2006), the Vietnam Elders’ Association (VEA) put in place an action program and the campaign “Emulation for the Nation”. The organization spread wider and entrenched itself from the central to grassroots level. A large number of elders were drawn to the “Elders Involved in Economic Development” movement, putting their efforts to promoting traditional handicrafts, being at the center of handicrafts production and passing traditional handicrafts down to younger generations.

Under the movement "Set a good example” in creating learning-passionate persons and families, tens of thousands of elders have contributed to building private and public-private schools from nursery to university. The old people have also been active in preserving traditional arts, showing examples in keeping good customs and practices, fighting against social evils, and building civilized communities and cultural families. In 2006, the VEA launched the “Cultural Year of the Elders” to encourage the nurturing of Vietnamese culture and the creation of elders’ culture.

Addressing the Meeting, President Nguyễn Minh Triết highly appreciated the services of Vietnamese elders to the cause of national construction and protection. Highlighting that Vietnam is entering a new period on its higher prestige and position in the international arena and a publicity in the international friends’ eyes as a dynamic country full of good potentialities, it, however, is facing mountains of difficulties ahead in the path of deeper integration into the world’s economy. In such a context, the VEA should expand itself and improve its way of work to attract more of its members into various movements at the service of the nation, offering initiatives and suggestions for national development, working to enhance the people’s unity, making efforts for the socio-economic development goals and implementing the 2006-2010 National Goals for the Elders Program. The old people’s health and welfare should be better looked after in line with the Vietnamese Communist Party’s guidelines and Government’s policies. The elders should share their precious experience and be more active in political, social, economic, educational activities, in Party and administration building, and in the fight against corruption.

President Nguyễn Minh Triết insisted that caring for the elders is the responsibility of all families and the whole society. It is important that the whole society be further involved in this work so that the elders can enjoy better social welfare services, he said./.

By Nguyên Hồ