Vietnam continues following its renewal direction to make itself an industrialized country with prosperous people, true democracy, and a civilized society by 2020, a Vietnamese official told an international conference.

>> Vietnam GDP to grow 5.6 percent in 2014: ANZ    Vuong Thua Phong, Standing Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, made the statement when he led a Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) delegation to the 18th international conference “Parties and A New Society” in Mexico.

The event, taking place from March 27 to 29, is hosted by the Mexican Labor Party (PT), drawing the participation of 500 delegates from 38 countries around the world.

Addressing the conference, Phong also noted that the slow global economic recovery, serious financial crisis, public debts and fierce competition among economies have exerted negative impacts on the socio-economic development in many countries.

However, Vietnam continues sticking to its renewal direction approved during the 11th Congress of the CPV with the aim of becoming a modern industrial nation by 2020, the official said. The CPV has so far set up diplomatic ties with more than 200 political parties from 114 countries, including more than 100 communist and worker parties, nearly 80 parliamentary parties, Phong told the conference. Last year, the country established strategic partnership with five more countries and comprehensive partnership with two others, raising the number of its strategic partners to 13 and comprehensive partners to 11, including five standing members of the United Nations Security Council, the head of the Vietnamese delegation said.

During their stay in Mexico, Phong and the delegation had a meeting with the Secretary for External Relations of the Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Javier Vega Camargo.

The two sides expressed their wish to strive for a stronger partnership in the coming time and agreed on the need to strengthen delegation exchanges.

The Vietnamese official also met with PT Secretary General Alberto Anaya Guitierrez who lauded Vietnam’s participation in seminars held by his party and also professed a desire to foster stronger cooperation between PT and CPV.