Leader wins second term to rule Vietnam through to 2030
Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, has been appointed head of the ruling Communist Party for the next five years, state media reported.
He promised to accelerate growth in the export-dependent country.
In the one-party state, Lam was “unanimously” re-elected to the country’s most powerful post by 180 party officials from a newly formed committee at the end of the five-year party congress, Vietnam News Agency reported, citing a press release from the party.
At the press conference to conclude the party congress, Lam’s name appeared under the title of general secretary, and an official confirmed that the party leader would speak.
During her brief tenure as party leader since mid-2024, Lam has presided over rapid growth supported by sweeping reforms that have earned her strong support but also criticism; Lam also drew criticism as she advocated faster decision-making and less bureaucracy, while tens of thousands of civil servants lost their jobs.
Aware of the discontent sparked by these reforms, Lam moved early to win support from rival factions within the party, including the powerful military, according to officials familiar with the process.
Lam issued a directive ahead of the party congress underscoring the “leading role” of state enterprises, including military-controlled telecommunications and defense giant Viettel, as concerns grow about plans to support private conglomerates at the expense of state-owned firms.
“She normally prepares her moves meticulously,” said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, noting that “Lam, as minister of state security, has deftly maneuvered to reach the top of Vietnam’s political system in 2024, when her late predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong faces long-term health problems.”
Lam’s re-election as party chairman sends a reassuring message to foreign investors, who have consistently viewed political stability as a key factor in Vietnam’s attractiveness.
Lam, 68, also aims to become president and the decision is expected to be announced later.
But Hiep warned that Lam’s proposal to combine the two top roles — a system similar to the model under Xi Jinping in neighboring China — “could pose a risk to Vietnam’s political system,” which has traditionally relied on collective leadership and internal controls.
Earlier this week, addressing congress delegates sitting in red-upholstered seats in a red-carpeted conference hall beneath a towering statue of party founder Ho Chi Minh, Lam pledged annual growth of more than 10 percent for a decade.
This is an ambitious target that differs from the World Bank’s forecast for average growth of 6.5 percent this year and next.
Lam wants to achieve this by changing the country’s growth model, which has been based on cheap labor and exports for decades, transforming the Southeast Asian nation into a high-middle-income economy by 2030 thanks to increased innovation and productivity.
In his first month as party chief, he launched the most sweeping overhaul of the country’s public administration and government in decades and vowed to continue the reform drive despite concerns about fiscal risks, controversial infrastructure and favoritism.
