https://www.scmp.com/rss/515749/feed Nguyen Khac Giang is visiting fellow at the Vietnam Studies Programme of the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. He was previously research fellow at the Vietnam Centre for Economic and Strategic Studies. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Nguyen Khac Giang Nguyen Khac Giang On Tuesday, Vietnam’s National Assembly elected a new prime minister. For once, the appointment looks less like a factional compromise than a deliberate bet on competence. Le Minh Hung, born in 1970, is the country’s youngest prime minister since 1955. In a system that often prizes seniority, that alone is striking. More striking still is Hung’s profile: he is not a provincial baron or a deal maker forged in the rough-and-tumble of local politics. Hung is a technocrat with economic training in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349678/who-vietnams-new-prime-minister-le-minh-hung?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349678/who-vietnams-new-prime-minister-le-minh-hung?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:00:16 +0000 Nguyen Khac Giang Nguyen Khac Giang Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, has spent his first year on an unusually busy diplomatic circuit, but one visit has left analysts scratching their heads. In October, just two months after visiting Seoul, where Vietnam signed US$250 million in South Korean arms deals and deepened ties with its largest foreign investor, To Lam flew to Pyongyang to stand beside Kim Jong-un at a military parade, making him the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since Nong Duc Manh in 2007 to set... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334564/hidden-domestic-agenda-behind-vietnams-baffling-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334564/hidden-domestic-agenda-behind-vietnams-baffling-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2025 05:30:14 +0000 The latest political upheaval in Vietnam has dramatically reshaped its elite leadership. Recent attention has focused on two high-profile replacements – General To Lam’s promotion to state president and Tran Thanh Man’s elevation to become chair of the National Assembly, the country’s legislature. This is warranted, given that Vietnam’s collective leadership centres on the so-called “four pillars” – the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the president, the prime minister... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3267596/vietnams-political-reshuffle-brings-respite-lam-tightens-grip-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3267596/vietnams-political-reshuffle-brings-respite-lam-tightens-grip-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jun 2024 03:00:17 +0000 Vietnam is grappling with a critical plastic waste crisis. Each year, the country generates 1.8 million tonnes of plastic waste, about one-third of which ends up in the ocean. This constitutes 6 per cent of global marine plastic pollution and makes it the world’s fourth-largest emitter. Not only does this exacerbate Vietnam’s environmental challenges, but it also casts a shadow over its international reputation as the nation has pledged robust commitments to sustainable dvelopment and the green... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3242731/why-vietnam-faces-uphill-battle-its-war-against-plastic-waste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3242731/why-vietnam-faces-uphill-battle-its-war-against-plastic-waste?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 02:00:42 +0000 Vietnam is riding high on the semiconductor wave, with recent government data revealing it is now the third-largest chip exporter to the United States, behind only Malaysia and Taiwan. Notably, chip revenues swelled by 75 per cent year-on-year, reaching US$562 million in February 2023. To put this in perspective, Vietnam’s exports of all electronic products to the US – including semiconductors – was merely US$110 million in February 2013. The surge in chip exports is a testament to Hanoi’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3221917/vietnam-must-ride-semiconductor-wave-cement-its-place-global-value-chain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3221917/vietnam-must-ride-semiconductor-wave-cement-its-place-global-value-chain?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 May 2023 02:30:17 +0000