Vietnam

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedEconomic Growth

During a recent working session leading up to the 14th Congress, Vietnamese delegates engaged in detailed discussions on draft policy documents shaping the country's future development. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted lessons from the previous government term and stressed the importance of institutionalizing the Party’s resolutions to generate new growth drivers. He emphasized economic development as the central goal, with balanced focus on national defense, foreign affairs, security, culture, and social welfare. The Prime Minister pointed to a shift from reactive governance to agile, science-based policy implementation, citing Vietnam’s successful COVID-19 vaccine campaign and responses to global challenges as examples of this new approach. Looking ahead, he reaffirmed the ambition for double-digit economic growth by 2030, requiring bold reforms, strong project execution, and a dynamic mindset.

Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh underscored “self-reliance and resilience” as key principles underpinning Vietnam’s sustainable rise, aiming to reduce external dependency. He stressed that party documents must be concise, actionable, and clearly assign responsibilities, resources, and outcomes. National defense strategy should clarify allies and challenges while promoting dual-use defense industries to integrate economic and strategic interests. Delegates highlighted the need for concrete growth targets such as per capita income and the Human Development Index, and emphasized strengthening agriculture as a strategic sector with increased public investment to leverage private and foreign capital.

The focus on innovation, sustainability, and technology-driven growth was significant. Delegates from Ho Chi Minh City urged policies to elevate labor productivity, science and technology contributions, and green development. They highlighted Vietnam’s current overreliance on low-value manufacturing and called for digital economy strategies centered on AI, digital governance, and the digital society as new growth engines. Environmental concerns, especially water security and marine resource protection in the Mekong Delta, were also raised. Supporters of shifting towards knowledge-based, innovation-driven growth noted the intensifying global competition in technology and cyberspace and advocated for building strategic autonomy through knowledge power and coordinated diplomacy.

Central to the discussions was the role of the people as the foundation of Vietnam’s strength. Delegates called for clearer policy articulation on empowering citizens as agents of change and for detailed implementation plans to foster national unity and solidarity. Overall, the draft documents were seen as reflecting collective intelligence and will, providing a political foundation as Vietnam embarks on an era characterized by self-reliance, transformative growth, and national pride.

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Political Scandal or Corruption

At the 14th National Party Congress, Deputy Chief of the Central Inspection Committee Tran Van Ron reported significant progress during the 13th Party Congress term, noting that the Party’s inspection bodies handled an unprecedentedly broad and complex workload. They uncovered and resolved multi-layered violations across various sectors and localities that had previously caused public discontent, enforcing discipline with strictness and humanity, without exceptions or forbidden zones. Despite these achievements, Ron acknowledged ongoing challenges, including insufficient appreciation of inspection work among Party committees and weaknesses in self-checking and early violation detection.

Ron emphasized the importance of committed leadership, stating that effective inspection depends on top leaders taking personal responsibility and setting examples. He highlighted that discipline should protect the broader public interest, enforcing rules not merely to punish individuals but to strengthen governance by closing systemic loopholes. A key development during the 13th term was enhanced coordination between Party inspection, state audit, administrative inspection, and law enforcement, which enabled more decisive enforcement actions.

Looking forward to the 14th term, Ron called for bold reforms aiming to transform inspection into a central tool for political discipline and clean governance. This would involve focusing on prevention, early warning, and grassroots power control, tightening anti-corruption rules, and integrating them into public administration to structurally deter misconduct. Additionally, inspection agencies will pursue digital transformation to enable real-time, data-driven oversight, enhancing transparency and accountability through reforms in asset and income declarations. The ultimate goal is to develop a generation of inspectors who are morally upright, professionally skilled, and institutionally empowered to uphold Party discipline and integrity.

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Corporate Corruption or Fraud

Le Minh Tri, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Standing Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission, revealed that during the 13th Party Congress term, many large-scale, highly organized corruption cases resembling interconnected "ecosystems" were uncovered and addressed. These corruption networks involved banks, securities firms, valuation agencies, and notary offices, with hundreds of affiliated companies manipulating stocks, rigging auctions, distorting public investment, and exploiting crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The anti-corruption campaign was comprehensive, consistent, and led directly by the Party, significantly strengthening Party discipline, enhancing public trust, and reducing corruption, waste, and misconduct across government levels.

The campaign's success included improved asset recovery and tighter coordination between Party inspection bodies and judicial agencies. Moving forward under the 14th Party Congress, Le Minh Tri emphasized the need to reinforce Party leadership, uphold discipline, and implement a stricter yet humane legal framework that supports economic growth. He stressed the importance of legal and institutional reforms to close loopholes exploited by corrupt actors, eliminate regulatory deadlocks, and align with recent Politburo resolutions focused on legislative innovation and private sector development.

Prevention efforts will focus on strengthening transparency, expanding asset monitoring, and promoting cashless transactions. Empowering prosecutors to initiate lawsuits protecting public interests and encouraging voluntary cooperation for damage recovery are also priorities. The anti-corruption institutions must be efficient, with clear mandates from central to local levels, and policies should protect innovation while sanctioning irresponsibility. Le Minh Tri highlighted the need to foster a culture of integrity through education and to ensure anti-corruption bodies themselves maintain the highest ethical standards to effectively serve as guardians against corruption.