Vietnam Appoints New Enforcer of Its Anti-Corruption Campaign

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam’s parliament has tapped a new enforcer of its “blazing furnace” campaign against graft — promoting the current deputy of the public security ministry to become its head.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Behind ‘Suicide Squad,’ the Year’s Biggest Video-Game Flop

• Billionaire-Friendly Modi Humbled by Indians Who Make $4 a Day

• A Struggling Business Park Deals a Blow to Singapore's Regional Hub Ambitions

• ‘Everything Is Not Going to Be OK’ in Private Equity, Apollo’s Co-President Says

• Vietnam Tycoon Sentenced to Death Faces New Charges: Media

Luong Tam Quang, 58, will be the Minister of Public Security, according to a National Assembly statement. He succeeds To Lam, who led the powerful body before rising to become the nation’s no. 2 leader last month.

A member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee who holds the rank of a lieutenant general, Quang was also chairman of the cybersecurity association prior to his appointment. He hails from the northern Vietnamese province of Hung Yen, just like Lam.

The nation’s anti-graft campaign, which Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has likened to a “blazing furnace,” has singed hundreds of senior officials, business executives and others over the years. While presidents, deputy prime ministers and a clutch of Communist Party officials have stepped down over wrongdoings, a death sentence given to a real estate tycoon in a $12 billion fraud case in April gained global attention.

Read: Berlin Kidnap Case Hangs Over Rise of Vietnam Enforcer

Still, the crackdown has done little to deter investments in the Southeast Asian nation, which has emerged as a major beneficiary from simmering tensions between the US and China.

The parliament also named Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long as deputy prime minister and Party Central Committee member Nguyen Thi Thanh as vice chairwoman of the National Assembly, according to the statement.

--With assistance from Nguyen Xuan Quynh.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Sam Altman Was Bending the World to His Will Long Before OpenAI

• David Sacks Tried the 2024 Alternatives. Now He’s All-In on Trump

• Elon and Donald Seem to Have Made Up

• Is There Room for Common Ground on Congestion Pricing?

• Startup Brings New Hope to the Pursuit of Reviving Frozen Bodies

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.