State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) presents flower to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (Photo: VNA) Pretoria (VNA) – “The Diplomatic Society” newswire ofSouth Africa on April 6 carried an article on the newly-elected leaders of theVietnamese Party and State.
In the article, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the newswire KirtanBhana said world leaders, heads ofinternational organisations and regional bodies have congratulated and acknowledged the electionof the Vietnamese leaders. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, StatePresident Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and NationalAssembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue were confirmed in their leadership roles afterthe deliberations and consultations of the 13th National PartyCongress which wrapped up in February 2021.
The authornoted that the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress statedthat the country will “focus on measures to basically complete the elements ofa socialist-oriented market economy, better handling the relationship betweenthe State, the market and society. Vietnam’s development achievements, recognisedprestige and elevated status over the past five years have createdcircumstances to realise its true potential.”
The election ofthe Politburo, the Secretariat, and the General Secretary of the Partyreflected the effectiveness of the preparatory personnel work, which screenedout unqualified or undeserving people from the Party Central Committee whileincluding people with morality, talent, and a good reputation.
GeneralSecretary Trong was re-elected to a third term while former PM Phuc was electedas President allowing him to stay among the country’s top leaders, providing acontinuity of policy implementation. Hue, former Minister of Finance and formerDeputy PM, has been approved as NA Chairman completing the top four roles inthe Government.
According tothe author, PM Chinh and his Government will prioritise international relationsand diplomacy. He cited Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son as saying that Vietnam’sastute and pragmatic international relations and diplomacy has significantlycontributed to maintaining a peaceful, stable environment favourable fornational development, as well as national security.
The article highlighted that recently, Vietnam has set up comprehensivepartnership with five more countries and upgraded relations with two others toa strategic partnership, raising the total number of its strategic partners to17 and comprehensive partners to 13, including all permanent members of theUnited Nations Security Council and ASEAN member nations. The conclusion offive free trade agreements (FTA) positions Vietnam at the centre of a networkof 16 regional FTAs that will attract significant resources and investment tothe country.
Son was quoted as saying that diplomacy hasplayed a significant role in raising the country’s position, as reflectedthrough its hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in2017, the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in 2018, the 26th AnnualMeeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in 2018, the summit between theUS and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 2019, its ASEAN andAIPA Chairmanship last year, and non-permanent membership of the UN SecurityCouncil for 2020-2021./.
