International press: Vietnam's General Secretary ready to face new challenges

Major news agencies and newspapers around the world such as AP, Reuters, VOA News, along with prestigious newspapers in Asia such as Channel News Asia, News Strait Times or China's Global Times immediately reported on the results of the Congress.

At the beginning of the international press conference after the Party Congress, international media agencies all mentioned that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his surprise at being re-elected with 100% of the votes.

Responding to the press, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said: "I was a bit surprised and had difficulty answering, but I sincerely said what I thought. I did not expect that the Congress would trust me and recommend me to the Central Executive Committee, and that the first Central Executive Committee would elect me as General Secretary, almost 100%, absolutely.

That was a surprise. Why? I am old, probably the oldest among the leaders, and my health is limited. I have already asked to retire, but with the responsibility assigned by the Party, as a Party member, I must fulfill my responsibility."

New members of the Political Bureau introduced to the Congress. Source: AP

Reuters quoted General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as saying that he is committed to maintaining the strengthening and balancing of foreign relations and consolidating the role of leaders in the new term.

Reuters news agency quoted the General Secretary's answer to domestic and foreign journalists: "I am old, my health is limited, my knowledge is somewhat limited... However, I am also very worried because the work ahead will not be easy."

The congress ended with high consensus among delegates. Source: Reuters

Meanwhile, Channel News Asia also mentioned the list of 19 members of the new Politburo including 12 completely new figures, including Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. Mr. Binh has been praised by financial experts for his achievements in monetary stability policies and the way he has resolved bad debts in the banking sector in recent times.

Channel News Asia also gave much praise to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who studied in the US. Experts say this is a sign that Vietnam is pursuing a more open and balanced foreign policy, including promoting the development of relations with the US and China.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at a press conference after the Congress ended. Source: Reuters

In the article titled “Re-elected, Vietnam’s General Secretary emphasizes the country’s one-party policy”, ABC News quoted Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong as saying: The leadership principle of the Communist Party is Collective leadership, individual responsibility. It cannot be individual autocracy or dictatorship. Although the Communist Party of Vietnam is a leading party, the leadership is also democratic and collective. Collective leadership and individual responsibility. But at the same time, we must promote individual responsibility, doing well, doing well, achieving results but falling on the individual; doing poorly but blaming the collective, not assigning responsibility, not disciplining anyone, that is also bad.

...Promote the role of the leader but must promote democracy. If the leader is uniquely autocratic, can it be called democracy? Some countries, in the name of democracy, but individuals decide everything, then who is more democratic?..."

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also stressed to the international press that a country needs discipline to meet the goal of becoming a modern and industrialized society. A country without discipline will become chaotic and unstable.

"Democracy needs to go hand in hand with stability and there needs to be a balance. We should not lean too much to one side. We need to balance democracy, law and order," the General Secretary said.

The US news agency AP quoted the General Secretary's answer when a reporter mentioned the issue of corruption, in which he affirmed that "it is necessary to maintain the responsibility of leaders and monitor power to ensure that corruption and waste are always under control."

The General Secretary also emphasized: "There is still a lot of work to do ahead". "The responsibility is enormous. In the current domestic and international context, there are many challenges and opportunities for Vietnam".

Fred Burke, a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam and a partner at the law firm Baker & McKenzie, said the new members of the Political Board will ensure economic development as well as fill previous vacancies: “This is a very positive sign. The new leaders show a modern and professional trend.”

In an interview with VOA News about the results of the Party Congress in Vietnam, Kevin Snowball, CEO of PXP Vietnam Asset Management, believes that the economy will achieve many improvements and reforms in the coming time.

“I believe that Vietnam will soon improve its economic situation, the new leaders will quickly carry out reforms, creating a favorable business environment like the stock market or foreign investment,” said Mr. Snowball.

Content is referenced from sources such as Reuters, AP, VOA News, Channel News Asia, ABC News, Global Times...

According to Infonet