8th Party Congress: Keeping up reform, boosting modernisation, industrialisation

The eighth National Party Congress takes place from June 28 to July 1, 1996 in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of China hosts a welcome ceremony for Party General Secretary Do Muoi during the latter’s official friendship visit to China from July 14 to 18, 1997. (Photo: VNA)

State President Tran Duc Luong hosts a welcome ceremony for President of France Jacques Chirac while the latter was in Hanoi for an official visit to Vietnam and participation in the 7th Francophone Summit from November 12 to 16, 1997. (Photo: VNA)

A delegation of the National Assembly, led by National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh, attends the 19th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO-19) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from August 24 to 28, 1998. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam becomes an official member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, November 14, 1998. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam successfully organised the 6th ASEAN summit in December 1998. This was the first time Vietnam has organised an event of ASEAN since its admission to the association. In the photo: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (middle) and ASEAN leaders pose for group photos at the closing ceremony of the 6th ASEAN summit. (Photo: VNA)

Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, State President Tran Duc Luong and Khamtai Siphandon, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, President of Laos, at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi during the Laos leader’s visit to Vietnam, January 4, 1999. (Photo: VNA)

Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu holds talks with Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of China, as part of the former’s official friendship visit to China from February 25 to March 3, 1999. (Photo: VNA)

Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu and First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party Fidel Castro after a signing ceremony for Vietnam-Cuba Joint Statement during the former’s official friendship visit to Cuba from July 7 to 14, 1999. (Photo: VNA)

Minister of Commerce Vu Khoan and US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky sign the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement after four consecutive years of negotiation, July 13, 2000. (Photo: VNA)

Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre opens, marking the official foundation of Vietnam’s stock market, July 20, 2000. (Photo: VNA)

State President Tran Duc Luong hosts a welcome ceremony for US President Bill Clinton during the latter’s visit to Vietnam from November 16 to 19, 2000. (Photo: VNA)h

Tran Hieu Ngan is the first Vietnamese Taekwondo athlete to gain a silver medal at the Sydney Olympic in 2000 and the first-ever Vietnamese athlete to win a medal on Olympic arena. (Photo: VNA)