VIETNAM'S Prime Minister yesterday insisted the country's troubled reforms remained on track, but warned they would never be allowed to threaten the security of Communist Party rule.
In a sober start to a new year which could see continuing slides in economic growth and foreign investment, Phan Van Khai said in a rare briefing that future stability depended on the party continuing to improve the lot of Vietnam's 78 million people.
Mr Khai - seen as a key reformer in a leadership now under greater international pressure to speed up change - also warned new efforts were needed to tackle the dark side of market forces.
'We are carrying out the gradual approach for stable development.
'We are not going to adopt the political reforms some countries have adopted because some of these can bring about social collapse,' Mr Khai said.
He said grand wartime victories had forged indelible links between the party and the people, yet he made clear its future leadership depended on results.