Dung appointed Vietnam's new PM

June 27, 2006 Nguyễn Tấn Dũng has been confirmed as Vietnam's next prime minister, winning by a majority vote of 92% by the National Assembly. He is the country's youngest Prime Minister since 1975, when Vietnam was unified, and is replacing the 72 year-old Phan Van Khai.

63 year-old Nguyen Minh Triet, who is an economic reformer and the Communist Party Chief for Ho Chi Minh City, was appointed as the country's president yesterday, with a majority vote of 94% by the Assembly. He replaces the 69 year-old Tran Duc Luong.

In a speech to the National Assembly, Mr Dung said: "Our urgent task is to quickly develop in a sustainable way and pull the country out of backwardness and fight corruption". It is expected that Mr Dung and Mr Triet will be looking ahead to the countries' expected entry into the World Trade Organisation, and dealing with the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) conference being hosted in Vietnam in November.

The two appointments mark major changes in the Communist leadership of Vietnam in order to bring in younger leaders for the country. The two appointments also mark the first time that the country has been ruled by two people from Southern Vietnam since the unification.