Newly-elected Hanoi Party Secretary Dinh Tien Dung

On the threshold of the new era, when Hanoi "has never had such scale, position, stature and development opportunity before", the new Hanoi Party Secretary faces high expectations, said Party Secretary General and State President Nguyen Phu Trong at the 17th Hanoi Party Congress.

In an interview with the local press, Dinh Tien Dung repeated PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s the words ‘institutions, institutions, and institutions’, which was emphasized in the classic book Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson.

To succeed, the first breakthrough a nation needs is institutional reform and laws. For Dung, who has been elected as Hanoi Party Secretary, this coincides with his view.

He has been a former deputy head, head and chief accountant of enterprises, and has held many important positions, Deputy Minister of Construction, Deputy Secretary of provincial Party Committee and Chair of Dien Bien, Secretary of Ninh Binh Provincial Party Committee, State Audit Chief, and Minister of Finance.

In early 2016, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung was asked: “Being the person who handles the national finances and pays the bills, you, on one hand, have to try to collect more money to satisfy the needs of the apparatus, but, on the other hand, you feel pressure from people and businesses – the taxpayers. What would you prioritize?”

By that time, Dung had been in the post of Minister of Finance for two years and faced a fragile financial situation with high public debts and overexpenditures.

He said: “My top priority is institutional reform. Budgeting is always an issue of concern, but in order to settle the problem to the root, we need to start from institutional reform. It is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for people and businesses to develop, because the most sustainable sources of state budget revenue are from production and business."

Dung restructured the apparatus of the customs and taxation agencies and the State Treasury, intensified the application of information technology, simplified administrative procedures, and drafted laws and ordinances that met high professional requirements.

The reform helped Vietnam jump from the 173rd position to 109th in the last five years in the ranking of tax and social insurance premium payments, contributing to Vietnam’s upgrade in the World Bank’s report on business environment.

To succeed, the first breakthrough a nation needs is institutional reform and laws. For Dinh Tien Dung, who has been elected as Hanoi Party Committee Secretary, this coincides with his view.

The Ministry of Finance has always been among the top three central agencies in the administrative reform index and leads in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ IT application index.

These efforts have brought positive effects. Vietnam has 130,000 newly registered businesses each year, and budget collections increase year after year, even though the country had to cut tariffs under free trade agreements.

“The biggest achievement of the last tenure is macroeconomic stability and low inflation, which helped people feel secure when making investment and doing business. If we had not had such achievements, we would have faced bigger difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Tran Dinh Thien, a member of the PM Economic Advisory Council.

At the 17th Hanoi Party Committee, Party Secretary General and State President Nguyen Phu Trong asked: “How will the capital city develop in the next decades?”

Affirming that Vietnam has an extremely important role and position, he said that It also has a lot of advantages and potential that no other locality has. Trong requested the Hanoi Party Committee to have a vision for not just several years, or one tenure, but for the longer term. He said Hanoi needs to draw up strategies and take steps suited to each development period in line with the country’s master development plan.

He pointed out the problems of Hanoi: it still has not made big breakthroughs, while productivity, quality and competitiveness of key products remain low. In addition, the indexes on satisfaction about administrative services, administrative efficiency and public administration are low.

The public and businesses want these issues to be settled, which places a great responsibility on Hanoi’s leaders this tenure.

As the head of Hanoi’s political system, the city’s Party Committee Secretary Dinh Tien Dung is expected to continue to promote Hanoi’s development and its position as a large economic center of the country and the region.

People want a leader who is faithful, capable, with "firm stuff" anf an outstanding development mindset, and who can gather talented people. This not only helps remove bottlenecks in development, but also inspires people and businesses who want to gain wealth.

Hanoi’s growth rate was nearly 7.4 percent in the last five years, higher than the country’s average growth rate. Its GDP per capita is $5,420, or 1.8 times higher than the country rate.

However, after one decade of expansion, nearly 51 percent of the population still lives in rural areas, which contribute only 2 percent to the capital city’s GDP, and the average income per capita is just VND55 million.

The ‘flying dragon’ aspiration

Hanoi, which turns 1,011 years old in 2021, still has "flying dragon" aspirations. Hanoi in the future will develop into a dynamic and modern city. It will be the symbol of the whole country, and play the role of the administrative and political center. It will also serve as the country’s center in culture, economy, science and education, and a tourism and international trade center of international stature in Asia Pacific.

It will have the most sustainable living environment, high-quality entertainment center, and great investment opportunities.

It is necessary to maintain solidarity and order, and to practice democracy. If so, the capital city will have creativity and development. 

Tu Giang - Lan Anh

Politburo member Dinh Tien Dung assigned as Secretary of Hanoi Party Committee

Politburo member and Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung has been assigned by the Political Bureau as Secretary of the Party Committee of Hanoi to replace Politburo member Vuong Dinh Hue who was elected Chairman of the National Assembly on March 31.

22 new Secretaries of provincial, municipal Party Committees for 2020-2025 tenure

22 secretaries of provincial, municipal party committees have been newly elected for the 2020-2025 tenure.