TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Vietnam elects prime minister amid big challenges
Change Size
In this Jan. 28, 2016 file photo, newly re-elected Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, center, flanked by Politburo members, Public Security Minister Gen. Tran Dai Quang, left, and first Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, applauds as he poses with the new party's central committee members at the closing ceremony the national congress of the party in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam's National Assembly has elected the police chief to be the country's new president, the second-highest post in the country. Quang, 59, took the oath of office on April 2 after the vote. (AP/Hoang Dinh Nam)
V
ietnam's National Assembly has elected Nguyen Xuan Phuc as prime minister, and he takes office at a time of soaring public debt, a serious budget deficit and China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
In a televised inaugural speech Thursday, Phuc vowed to push up with reforms, fight corruption and defend the country's sovereignty.
The appointment of Phuc, who rose from governor of the central province of Quang Nam to deputy prime minister five years ago, was a mere formality after he was picked at the Communist Party's congress in January as the sole candidate to replace Nguyen Tan Dung, who was removed from office Wednesday.
Analysts say Phuc is likely to continue with economic reforms and international integration.
