3rd Aug 2024, Hanoi.
Vietnamese President To Lam was named the new general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He succeeded Nguyen Phu Trong, who died two weeks ago. Lam, 67, temporarily took over the party chief’s duties on July 18, before Trong’s death. Party delegates fully supported Lam’s nomination. He promised to continue Trong’s legacy, maintain foreign policy, focus on socioeconomic goals, and fight corruption. “The anti-corruption work will continue strongly,” Lam said. He feels confident because of his experience in the police ministry’s anti-graft campaign.
Vietnam is a key place for manufacturing investment due to its political stability. However, recent turbulence was due to anti-corruption efforts. The country doesn’t have a paramount leader, but the party head is the most powerful, especially after Trong strengthened the role during his 13 years. Lam, a career security officer, had long aimed to be party chief. Experts saw the presidency as a step towards this role. “This shows a pause in internal party conflicts,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, an expert in Singapore. Giang thinks the anti-corruption campaign may slow down as Lam focuses on stabilizing the party until the 2026 congress.
It’s unclear if Lam will keep both roles until 2026 or if a new president will be chosen. Lam became president in May after leading anti-corruption investigations as police minister. He replaced Vo Van Thuong, who quit amid accusations of wrongdoing. If Lam keeps both roles, he may gain more power and adopt an autocratic leadership style, like China’s Xi Jinping. This would be new for Vietnam, which has typically made decisions collectively with multiple checks on leaders.
Vietnam has long sought to be recognized as a market economy to reduce US trade duties. Only 12 other economies, including China and Russia, are labeled as non-market by the US. An upgrade was opposed by US steelmakers and shrimp farmers but supported by retailers and some business groups. Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade said it would be fair to upgrade Vietnam’s status. “Vietnam regrets that the US Department of Commerce still hasn’t recognized us as a market economy despite recent improvements,” the Ministry stated. Vietnam argues it deserves market status due to economic reforms and says the non-market label hurts US-Vietnam ties. Opponents argue Vietnam still operates as a planned economy controlled by the Communist Party and is used by Chinese firms to bypass US import curbs on China.