Vietnam picks reformers as PM and president
Vietnam's communists have selected two southern economic reformers as president and prime minister, passing the torch to a young-er generation at a time when the country is poised to deepen its integration with the global economy.
Nguyen Minh Triet, the 63-year-old Communist party chief of the country's bustling business capital, was endorsed by the national assembly to serve as the president, replacing the retiring Tran Duc Luong, 69.
Mr Triet, who has overseen booming growth in Ho Chi Minh City, in turn formally nominated Nguyen Tan Dung, a 55-year-old deputy prime minister, to replace Phan Van Khai, 72, outgoing premier.
Mr Dung rose through the ranks of the public security ministry before being appointed governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, in the 1990s. He has spent the past eight years as a deputy prime minister, overseeing economic reforms. Despite his economic reform credentials, Mr Dung is considered "politically cautious" due to his security background, a Western diplomat said.
The National Assembly's "selection" of the two men, who form part of a ruling triumvirate along with Nong Duc Manh, the Communist party secretary general, was largely symbolic. The real decisions were made behind closed doors months ago as part of the Communist party Congress, held once every five years.
While analysts said they did not expect any fundamental change in the overall direction of Vietnam's economic liberalisation and tight political controls, the two men come to the fore of the national stage at a time of growing challenges for the country's communist rulers.
Although the economy is growing at a robust 8 per cent a year and Vietnam is attracting new waves of foreign investment, many of the country's 82m citizens are deeply unhappy with pervasive corruption, which reaches to some of the highest levels of government.
Hanoi's accession to the World Trade Organisation could also create friction, bringing fresh opportunities to some sectors of the economy while creating difficulties for other less competitive enterprises including many in the state sector.
As it expands its foreign trading relations, Vietnam is also potentially more vulnerable to global economic instability than during its more insular past.
"It is harder to be in charge of Vietnam today than it was 10 years ago," said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce.
越南改革家获任新一代领导人
越南共产党选出两位南方的经济改革家作为国家主席和总理，在这个国家准备进一步与全球经济接轨的时刻，将火炬传递给了更年轻的一代领导人。
阮明哲(Nguyen Minh Triet)现年63岁，是越南繁华的商业首都胡志明市市委书记，越南国会(National Assembly)已批准他出任国家主席，接替卸任的69岁的陈德良(Tran Duc Luong)。
阮明哲随后正式提名55岁的副总理阮晋勇(Nguyen Tan Dung)接替即将离任的72岁的总理潘文凯(Phan Van Khai)。阮明哲主管胡志明市蓬勃发展的经济。
在很大程度上，越南国会对这两个人的“选举”是象征性的。几个月前，在每五年举行一次的共产党全国代表大会上，真正的决定已在幕后做出。阮明哲和阮晋勇将与越共中央总书记农德孟(Nong Duc Manh)形成三人共同执政的局面。
虽然分析人士表示，他们预计越南经济自由化和严格政治控制的总体方向不会发生根本性变化，但正是在越共统治者面临的挑战日益增长之际，阮明哲和阮晋勇登上国家舞台的前台。
尽管越南经济以每年8%的速度强劲增长，而且吸引了新一轮的外国投资，但在该国8200万公民中，许多人都对普遍存在、甚至牵涉到一些政府最高层官员的腐败现象极为不满。
此外，越南加入世界贸易组织(WTO)也可能带来摩擦。加入世贸组织可为某些经济领域带来新的机遇，但也会给包括许多国有企业在内的其它竞争力较弱的企业造成困难。
随着外贸关系的扩展，与较为封闭的过去相比，越南也可能更容易受到全球经济不稳定的冲击。
