Nong Duc Manh

General Secretary, Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)

Date of Birth: 11\09\1940

ts revolutionary days are long over and CPV General Secretary Nong Duc Manh leads an outward-looking Vietnam committed to multilateral diplomacy, which this year has taken steps to mend relationships (and borders) with China, Laos and Cambodia. Now Vietnam is seeking to develop trade relations with Africa, reaching out to Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco and Central African Republic.

CAR President François Bozizé visited Hanoi on 20 May and Manh promised to share Vietnamese skills in agriculture and social services.

Manh, 69, is the first General Secretary without a strong revolutionary background. Born in the north-east, he was a forestry worker and administrator. In 1966, he attended the Soviet Union's Leningrad Forestry Institute, then, after his return, the Nguyen Ai Quoc Party School. He worked in the Bac Thai forestry ministry and climbed the provincial party ranks, arriving on the national scene in 1989, when he was elected to the CPV Central Committee.

By 1991, Manh had joined the Political Bureau and in 1992 was elected Chairman of the National Assembly. He became General Secretary in 2001 and is the most powerful member of the leading troika with President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Said to be more liberal than his predecessor Le Kha Phieu, Manh has overseen a continuation of the doi moi (renovation) reforms that began in 1986 under General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh. The gradual dismantling of the command economy has led to impressive long-term growth, but Manh still heads an authoritarian regime which harshly suppresses dissent. Reporters Without Borders dubbed him a 'predator' for his treatment of critical journalists.