HANOI, March 23 (Reuters) - Vietnam's ruling Communist Party started a week-long meeting on Monday that is set to make key state and government personnel decisions, the government said.
The plenum is widely expected to nominate the country's top leadership posts for the next five years, including prime minister, state president and National Assembly chair. Party chief To Lam is widely expected to be nominated as state president, holding two posts.
"The plenum will review personnel matters for leadership positions in state agencies for the 2026–2031 term," Lam said in his opening speech, according to a government statement.
It is unclear if the party will announce the nominees by the end of the meeting, which is scheduled to last until Friday. Parliament will need to confirm the nominees at a plenary session that starts on April 6.
The party's anti-corruption drive and Vietnam's socio-economic development plans for the 2026–2031 period will also be discussed at the meeting, the statement said.
"These issues are particularly important and of fundamental significance... as they directly relate to the quality of leadership and governance, as well as the country's fast and sustainable development," Lam said.
Vietnam targets economic growth of over 10% a year during the 2026-2030 period, and Lam said the urgent tasks for the country were to cope with the impacts of wars and conflicts and a possible global economic crisis.
"The global and regional situation continues to change very rapidly, very strongly, and is very difficult to predict," Lam said.
Strategic competition among major powers is becoming increasingly fierce, he added, while conflicts over geopolitics, geoeconomics, technology, energy, supply chains, data, and markets are profoundly changing the development environment of nations.
Vietnam has faced surging fuel prices since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, with gasoline prices up 50% and diesel prices rising 70%.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Francesco Guarascio, Martin Petty)
