Khai, who as head of the government occupies a more powerful post than Luong, is widely viewed as a technocrat and reformer with a strong grounding in economics who can revivify the doi moi reforms. But tackling state enterprise reform will be a thorny problem. At the most recent Communist Party Congress in 1996, Hanoi reaffirmed a leading role for the state sector, and dismantling state behemoths strikes at the very heart of party doctrine. The party has grappled unsuccessfully to chose his successor for more than 18 months, and the underlying uncertainty over the future direction of reforms still rests firmly within its corridors, notes Australian academic Carlyle Thayer. The election of both Khai and Luong by the assembly was a mere formality, as both candidates secretly chosen in advance by by the Communist Party Central Committee, the true centre of power.
Analysts say Vietnam's window of opportunity is getting smaller.
Foreign investors grow steadily more impatient with the country's bloated bureacracy, rampant corruption and opaque legal system. The banking system is in tatters, a situation unlikely to improve as long as the government obliges state owned banks to prop up ailing state enterprises. Some believe Hanoi finally appears to have addressed their concerns, and is starting to make the right noises. But whether he expressed a genuine desire to move forward or was merely telling the diplomat what he wanted to hear remains to be seen.