US media features Vietnam’s National Party Congress

The re-appointment of Nguyen Phu Trong as Party General Secretary means that there would be no major changes in Vietnam’s orientations for economic development, according to US newspapers.

The New York Times quoted Frederick Burke, managing partner for Vietnam at the American law firm Baker & McKenzie as saying that the leadership transition at this week’s party congress was encouraging because it highlighted the country’s political stability and respect for the rule of law.

The paper also cited Sami Kteily, executive chairman of PEB Steel, a construction company in Ho Chi Minh City, that Vietnam’s membership in several recent trade agreements underlined the country’s commitment to being an active member of the global economy.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the re-election of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shows that Vietnam would continue opening its economy towards international integration.

USA Today highlighted Vietnam’s economic growth of 6.68 percent, saying that it was the best performance in the last five years, as foreign investment reached an all-time high of 14.5 billion USD.

However, the US articles pointed out challenges facing the new Party Central Committee, which they said mainly come from the slow pace of modernisation of Vietnam’s economy, ineffective operations in State-owned enterprises and the high rate of bad debts in banks.