Vietnamese take pictures in front of a sign on Tuesday, Jan 11 2011, announcing Vietnam's National Party Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam. -- PHOTO: AP
HANOI - VIETNAM'S ruling communists begin talks on Wednesday to choose their leaders with the fast-growing economy under threat and the political system slowly evolving - though not fast enough for some, observers say.
The one-party state is striving to build a 'modern industrialised country' by 2020 but faces immediate challenges that include high inflation, currency weakness, systemic corruption and a bloated state sector.
'Any new leadership coming in will have no choice but to push greater economic reform,' an Asian diplomat said, noting emerging competition from neighbours such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
A socio-economic strategy for the next decade - to be debated at the five-yearly Congress scheduled until January 19 - pledges to carry out reforms long sought by foreign investors. These include the need for a more skilled workforce, better infrastructure, and more efficient state enterprises.
The strategy talks of shifting Vietnam's growth model away from reliance on natural resources and unskilled labour to one more technologically advanced.
'Developing an independent, self-reliant, and highly-competitive economy will become our country's biggest economic challenge in the next decade,' Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung wrote in a review of the new strategy. -- AFP
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