Few countries are better placed than Vietnam to get rich
Yet political paralysis could slow it down
A brief but revealing panic struck Vietnam this month. On January 12th the country’s 79-year-old leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, failed to meet the visiting president of Indonesia. Mr Trong’s name was removed from the official schedule without explanation. Rumours spread that he was dead. For three days noodle shops raged with speculation about who his successor might be. Would it be someone corrupt? Or more pro-China? The ruling Communist Party, a secretive bunch, revealed nothing.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Vietnam’s golden moment”
From the January 27th 2024 edition
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