In celebrating the 80th anniversary of the education sector and the start of the new academic year, the Academy of Public Administration and Governance (APAG) held the opening ceremony of the 2025–2026 academic year on September 5, 2025, at its headquarters in Ha Noi. The full text of the speech delivered by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Thanh Cuong, Deputy Secretary of the APAG Party Committee and Vice President of APAG, is introduced below.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Thanh Cuong delivers the opening speech. Distinguished members of the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of APAG,
Respected lecturers and public officials of APAG,
Dear students!
The opening day of the 2025-2026 academic year takes place in a special context: Viet Nam is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day, September 2. For the first time, teachers and students across the country joined together to salute the flag and sing the national anthem in the opening ceremony of the new academic year, while listening to the particularly important speech delivered by Party General Secretary To Lam.
For APAG, the 2025-2026 academic year marks a special milestone in its development journey, affirming its mission as a higher education institution oriented towards international standards. This is a new period of growth, requiring the faculty and students of APAG to dare to lead, take responsibility, and continuously innovate and create.
Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW of the Politburo, dated August 22, 2025, emphasized that education and training are the top national policy, decisive for the nation’s future. For APAG, this is a responsibility before the Party, the State, and society: to train people with political steadfastness, liberal culture, academic intellect, and a strong sense of national responsibility.
Distinguished delegates, lecturers, and students,
To realize its mission in the new context, APAG has identified the following key tasks for the 2025-2026 academic year:
First, improving the quality of the faculty and staff. Lecturers are the “lighthouses” that guide the way, inspire, and awaken aspiration and responsibility in every student and learner.
Second, continuing to enhance the quality of training, ensuring not only the provision of knowledge but also the cultivation of creativity and problem-solving skills so that learners, like “astronauts,” can confidently navigate their own journeys, committed to innovation for the development of both the nation and themselves.
Third, expanding international cooperation. Every opportunity for exchange in study and research with friends across the five continents is a “gateway to space” that opens up the universe of knowledge, enabling us to share and spread the values of our country with confidence and self-reliance in integration.
Fourth, developing APAG into a center for research and policy consultation. Through this, the knowledge gained in classrooms will be translated into the practice of national governance, contributing to solving the challenges of national development as well as the personal growth of each of us.
Fifth, investing in modern technological infrastructure and facilities to create an intelligent learning environment that encourages creativity and sharing, so that APAG truly becomes an “academic space station” - a place that provides energy and aspiration for each individual’s journey to master knowledge.
Dear students,
Your journey of study and research is like a space voyage. APAG is the “launch pad,” and you are the astronauts, piloting your own ship of knowledge. There will be challenges, yet if you maintain the spirit of initiative, responsibility, and innovation, you will conquer the “universe of knowledge” to serve the country, contribute to the people, and build a happy life for yourselves.
APAG’s educational philosophy - “Creating knowledge, fostering innovation, and national responsibility” - is the compass guiding your growth, dedication, and service. Keep alive your aspirations, your spirit of commitment, and your sense of responsibility to the country, your family, and yourselves.
Dear lecturers and public officials of APAG!
For the past 66 years, APAG has been nurtured by the courage, intellect, dedication, and tireless efforts of generations of faculty, staff, and employees. It is this legacy that has forged the APAG’s prestige, position, and objective value. APAG firmly believes that you will continue to keep alive the flame of passion and devotion, becoming the “source of energy” that empowers learners on their journey to explore knowledge, innovate, and take charge of their future.
Distinguished guests!
A new academic year has begun. Building on its 66-year tradition and a spirit of initiative, responsibility, and creativity, APAG will continue to grow, becoming a trusted destination for learners, society, and the academic community.
APAG calls upon all lecturers and students to uphold the aspiration to rise, and the spirit of service to the nation in the immortal spirit of the historic Autumn of 1945.
We sincerely wish our lecturers and staff abundant health, joy, and fruitful achievements in the noble career of education. To our students, we wish a new academic year full of energy, dedication, and success.
Thank you very much!