The event, organised in Điện Biên Phủ city, was attended by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat and Chairwoman of its Organisation Commission Trương Thị Mai, Acting State President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân, Permanent Vice Chairman of the NA Trần Thanh Mẫn, and President of the VFF Central Committee Đỗ Văn Chiến.

It also saw the presence of former Party General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh; former State Presidents Nguyễn Minh Triết, Trương Tấn Sang, and Nguyễn Xuân Phúc; former PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng; and former NA Chairman Nguyễn Văn An.

International guests included Lao Deputy PM and Minister of National Defence Chansamone Chanyalath, Cambodian Deputy PM Neth Savoeun, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Zhang Qingwei, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, delegates of foreign representative bodies in Việt Nam, defence attachés of other countries, and representatives of overseas Vietnamese.

From Điện Biên Province, the attendees included: Trần Quốc Cường, member of the Party Central Committee and the Provincial Party Secretary; Mùa A Sơn, the Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Lê Thành Đô, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Lò Văn Phương, a Member of the Provincial Party Committee's Executive Board and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Lò Văn Mừng, a Member of the Executive Board, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Ombudsman Commission, and Chairman of the Provincial Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee.

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng sent flowers to the event.

In his speech, PM Chính, on behalf of the Party and State, expressed endless gratitude to President Hồ Chí Minh, General Võ Nguyên Giáp – the direct commander of the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign, predecessors, soldiers, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, the heroes of the people’s armed forces, pioneering youths, frontline workers, war invalids, martyrs’ families, along with the entire armed forces and people nationwide for their utmost dedications, bravery, and sacrifice to create the historic Điện Biên Phủ Victory that “resounded across the five continents and shook the globe”.

He also appreciated the precious and wholehearted assistance from China, the countries of the former Soviet Union, socialist nations, international friends, progressive and peace-loving forces worldwide, especially Laos and Cambodia in the combatant alliance of the three Indochinese countries, for the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign as well as the Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberation.

Looking back on the resistance war full of hardships but also bravery and unyieldingness against the French colonialists, he said the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign secured a resounding triumph, beating France’s final effort in its invasion of Việt Nam.

The PM described this triumph as the peak victory of the resistance war and the essence of Việt Nam’s strength in the Hồ Chí Minh era, noting that it forced the French colonialists to sign the Geneva Accords on the cessation of hostilities in Việt Nam on July 21, 1954, paving the way for the liberation and construction of the North that entered a transitional period towards socialism and forming a solid foundation for the fight to liberate the South and reunify the country.

The historic victory was not only significant to the Vietnamese revolution but also became a source of support for national liberation movements and marked the start of the collapse of the old colonialism around the world, he remarked.

Upholding the spirit of the Điện Biên Phủ Victory, Việt Nam has obtained numerous enormous successes and glorious feats of arms such as the “Điện Biên Phủ in the air” victory in 1972 and the great victory in the spring of 1975. After its reunification, the country concurrently made socio-economic reconstruction, fought to defend its borders, and fulfilled the noble international mission of helping the Cambodian people to topple and get rid of the genocidal regime.

After nearly 40 years of Đổi mới (Renewal) and integration into the world under the Party’s leadership, Việt Nam has made considerable and historic achievements, as Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng used to say that the country has never gained such a fortune, strength, stature, and reputation in the world as it has today, according to PM Chính.

The Government leader voiced his belief that the country will continue strongly promoting the spirit of “being determined to fight and to win” of the Điện Biên PhủCampaign, surmount difficulties and challenges, and exert all-out efforts to make new “Điện Biên Phủ miracles” in the building and safeguarding of the socialist Fatherland.

On this occasion, on behalf of Party and State leaders, PM Chính presented the first-class Independence Order to the Party organisation, administration, and people of Điện Biên province in recognition of their remarkable attainments and contributions to the Party and the nation’s revolutionary cause.

Following the ceremony, a military parade and a procession of civil forces gathering over 12,000 people took place to celebrate the anniversary.

Earlier the same day, a delegation of the Party Central Committee, the NA, the State President, the Government, and the VFF Central Committee led by PM Chính officered incense and flowers at the temple dedicated to the soldiers falling down on the Điện Biên Phủbattlefield. Party General Secretary Trọng also sent a wreath in commemoration of the martyrs.