Hanoi, April 8 -- Party General Secretary To Lam, in his inaugural speech as President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the 16th National Assembly (NA)'s first session in Hanoi on April 7, declared that his top priority in both the Party's and the State's highest positions is to drive rapid and sustainable national development and improve all aspects of people's lives. The foremost focus is to thoroughly follow the principle that "people are the root," strongly upholding the people's role as the central actors and ultimate beneficiaries of every development gain, he said. More than 80 years ago, shortly after the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh articulated the supreme goal of national independe...