Several newspapers in the US have commented that leadership transition at Vietnam’s 12th National Party Congress shows political stability in the Southeast Asian nation.

The re-appointment of Nguyen Phu Trong as Party General Secretary means that there would be no major changes in Vietnam’s orientations for economic development, according to US newspapers.

The New York Times quoted Frederick Burke, managing partner for Vietnam at the American law firm Baker & McKenzie as saying that the leadership transition at this week’s party congress was encouraging because it highlighted the country’s political stability and respect for the rule of law.

The paper also cited Sami Kteily, executive chairman of PEB Steel, a construction company in Ho Chi Minh City, that Vietnam’s membership in several recent trade agreements underlined the country’s commitment to being an active member of the global economy.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the re-election of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shows that Vietnam would continue opening its economy towards international integration.

USA Today highlighted Vietnam’s economic growth of 6.68 percent, saying that it was the best performance in the last five years, as foreign investment reached an all-time high of 14.5 billion USD.

However, the US articles pointed out challenges facing the new Party Central Committee, which they said mainly come from the slow pace of modernisation of Vietnam’s economy, ineffective operations in State-owned enterprises and the high rate of bad debts in banks.

Press significantly contributes to successful Party Congress

The press has made significant contribution to the success of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), newly-elected Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong ​said while meeting with domestic and foreign reporters in Hanoi on January 28, right after the Congress ended.

The Party leader hailed the journalists for their timely reporting of the Congress – a significant political event to the public, stressing that after eight days of working, the Congress concluded as a big success.

The Party chief told reporters from the Vietnam Television (VTV) that he was touched by the sentiments of domestic compatriots and international friends for trusting him as the top leader of the Party.

There will be a lot of things to do in the coming tenure given the opportunities and challenges from both at home and abroad, he said, adding that enormous efforts are needed to fulfill the missions.

He said it is imperative to regularly renovate activities to increase democracy in the Party, such as conducting Q&A sessions and votes of confidence for key positions in the 12th tenure.

This has been carried out since the Resolution on Party-building was adopted at the fourth plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee, he noted.

He highlighted some changes in the previous tenure, particularly casting votes of confidence on key posts elected or approved by the National Assembly and People’s Councils.

For the first time, the Party made strategic-level personnel planning to facilitate personnel preparations for the Congress, he said.

And it is also the first time the Party Central Committee has elected all the 19 members to the Politburo, all with concentrated votes. The Congress also elected 180 official and 20 alternate members to the Party Central Committee with high votes (at least over 62 percent), he stated.

The conduction of the Q&A session in the Party Central Committee’s plenums is essential to further promote democracy and examine the activities of Party leaders, he said, adding that this activity will be continually carried out as regulated.

It is a must to persistently and resolutely implement the Resolution adopted at the fourth plenum of the 11 th Party Central Committee about Party-building, especially solutions to upholding the responsibility of top-ranking officials and intensifying the prevention of corruption and wastefulness, he stressed.

Other things that should be bettered, include strategic-level personnel planning and young cadre training, he said, citing that among the 19 newly-elected Politburo members, only seven were re-elected and the remaining are young.

The new Party Central Committee groups young, female, and ethnic minority officials, he added.

The Party leader told reporters from BBC that the Party has paid due attention to the training of young cadres so that they could inherit and promote the achievements from previous generations for sustainable development.

He told AFP correspondents that the leadership principle of the CPV is to promote the role of the top leader, but also to promote democracy.

He reiterated the Congress’s goal of building Vietnam with prosperous people and a democratic, fair and civilised society, underlining this as a long-term goal and the foreseeable target of the Party is to develop Vietnam into a modern industrialised country.

The democracy is demonstrated through activities of the National Assembly, People’s Councils, and social-political organisations, he said, adding that democracy must go along with discipline.

The Party General told reporters from local Dan Tri newspaper that the voting results on the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the General Secretary, and the Secretariat were absolutely in accordance with the personnel course built by the 11th Party Central Committee.

The list of candidates was introduced by the 11th tenure’s committee and the 12th Congress’s delegates.

The outcomes of the 12th National Party Congress demonstrate the democracy, solidarity, discipline, and brainpower of the Vietnamese Party and people, he said.-

VNA