Vietnam's Communist Party Congress has chosen To Lam as its leader for the next five years, appointing him as general secretary to lead the one-party state.
Having assumed the role after the death of long-serving leader Nguyen Phu Trong in July 2024, To Lam sought the position again, following a short first term that saw him launch sweeping administrative and economic reforms.
The 68-year-old wants Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, to break out of the "middle income" trap and become a developed economy. But critics say he has been too hard-fisted in his attempts to accelerate the country's growth.
To Lam was barely eight months into the job in April when he laid out plans to chart a prosperous new course for Vietnam.
Appearing before hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens in Ho Chi Minh City on 30 April, the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, known locally as "Liberation Day", he pledged to "build upon the spirit of the great victory in the spring of 1975, and the values and triumphs over the past 40 years under 'Doi Moi'".
