Vietnam’s top leader said his nation is ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s great powers, as tens of thousands gathered to watch a military parade marking 50 years since the end of the war and the defeat of the U.S.-backed southern regime.

The war left us “lessons with profound values,” Communist Party General Secretary To Lam said Wednesday at the ceremonial event in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. Those include “leaving the past behind, looking toward the future,” he said.

The anniversary is a watershed moment for a country that for decades battled and eventually defeated global powers France and the U.S., with which Vietnam later developed strong economic and diplomatic ties. Some 13,000 Vietnamese police and armed forces personnel marched through the country’s commercial hub, joined for the first time by troops from neighbors China, Laos and Cambodia, while fighter jets roared overhead.

“Seeing how we have developed the country over the past 50 years, how we have rebuilt and transformed this city, fills me with hope,” said Nguyen Cong Thanh, 93, who fought in the Mekong Delta before entering Saigon on April 30, 1975. “Our spirit is looking toward building a brighter future,” he added.

Behind the flag-waving, the government is engaged in intense trade diplomacy with Washington, seeking to stave off a threatened 46% tariff which could hollow out its export model. It’s also trying to maintain close ties with China, which has warned countries against reaching trade deals at the expense of Beijing.

Trade between Vietnam and the U.S. has more than tripled over the past decade to about $150 billion in 2024 as multinational firms that export to the U.S. set up shop in the country, attracted by its low-cost workforce and proximity to China. Vietnam now runs the third-largest trade surplus of any country with the U.S., and exports to the U.S. account for around 30% of gross domestic product.

The U.S. Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City attended the ceremonies Wednesday, with the New York Times earlier reporting the Trump administration had eased a ban on U.S. diplomats from the event.

“The 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War is a solemn occasion. This conflict entailed immense sacrifice for both Vietnam and for the United States,” the U.S. embassy said in an emailed comment to Bloomberg News. “The United States and Vietnam have a robust bilateral relationship that we are committed to deepening and broadening.”

Since the war and Vietnam’s defeat of a Chinese incursion in 1979, the Southeast Asian nation has navigated competing interests for its advantage. This has formed the backbone of the so-called bamboo diplomacy that defines its foreign policy approach.

“It’s a marker of Vietnam’s successful postwar development,” said Edmund Malesky, a Vietnam expert at Duke University. “This is a confident middle-income Vietnam emerging. And America is a part of that story.”

The conflict with the U.S. claimed the lives of as many as 3 million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 American troops. But more than 70% of Vietnam’s population was born after the war and they are more likely to view the U.S. as a powerful economic partner than a past enemy, Malesky said.

It was inspiring to hear Lam’s comments putting Vietnam side-by-side with the great powers, said Pham Thi Phuong Anh, a 20-year-old student from Dong Nai province.

“We ended the war 50 years ago, and today we are among the fastest-growing economies in the world,” she said. “That gives us real reason to believe in our potential and be confident about our future.”

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With assistance from Jon Herskovitz.

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