At last week’s Party Congress, To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, was, as expected, elected to continue leading the country for the next five-year term. At the same time, several economic policy experts were appointed to the Party’s most important decision-making body, the Politburo. This reinforces our view that the strategy launched by To Lam to elevate Vietnam to a new level of prosperity enjoys broad-based support. One of the most interesting appointments is former central bank governor Le Minh Hung, who, in addition to joining the Politburo, is set to become Prime Minister.
The new government will be appointed in late winter, at which point To Lam is also likely to assume the position of President. As President, To Lam would represent Vietnam in international forums. The appointments of the Prime Minister and President will be confirmed at a session of the National Assembly in March–April.
We believe Vietnam will continue its chosen path of even stronger economic growth, with public infrastructure mega projects stimulating economic activity and private-sector investment over the next 5–10 years. At the same time, the authorities are prepared to allow the government debt-to-GDP ratio to rise to 45%.
Vietnam’s economic growth accelerated to 8.5% in the final quarter of the year. For the full year of 2025, GDP growth achieved 8.0%.