At the first meeting of the 11^th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on January 18 afternoon, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, 67, National Assembly Chairman, was elected as the Party Chief.

The list of 14 members of the Politburo was also defined, with five new members besides the nine who were re-elected.

At 9 am, January 19, Party Secretary General of the 10^th tenure – Nong Duc Manh – presented flowers and congratulated the new Party Chief.

Mr. Trong is a Professor, Doctor of Political Sciences. He worked for the Communist Magazine for 20 years, including five years as the Chief Editor. After that he assumed the Hanoi Vice Party Secretary position, in charge of ideology, culture, science and education of the Party, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council. He became Hanoi Party Secretary in early 2000. In July 2007, he was elected as the National Assembly Chairman.

The 14 members of the Politburo include: Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, HCM City Party Secretary Le Thanh Hai, Deputy PM Nguyen Sinh Hung, Hanoi Party Secretary Pham Quang Nghi, Chief of the Central Information and Education Committee To Huy Rua, Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Truong Tan Sang, Minister of Defense Phuong Quang Thanh, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Chief Editor of The People Daily and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association Dinh The Huynh, Chief of the Party Central Committee Office Ngo Van Du, Chairman of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang and National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong.

Ten of the 14 Politburo members hold doctor degrees. The oldest member is Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, 67, and the youngest member is Deputy Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, 55.

The Politburo has one woman, Mrs. Tong Thi Phong, 57, a Thai ethnic person, the Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly. Phong is the second woman who has been elected to the Politburo so far. The first is Nguyen Thi Xuan My, Chairwoman of the Central Inspection Committee, who was elected as Politburo member in 1996.

The Party Central Committee’s Secretariat has four members: Ngo Xuan Lich, Truong Hoa Binh, Ha Thi Khiet and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The Central Inspection Committee has 21 members, chaired by Ngo Van Du.

Five years ago, in April 2006, the 10^th Party Central Committee elected 14 Politburo members and then additionally elected Mr To Huy Rua in early 2009.

The 11^th National Party Congress closed this morning, January 19.

Brief biographies of 14 Politburo members (in alphabetical order)

Truong Tan Sang	Tran Dai Quang
Tong Thi Phong	To Huy Rua
Phung Quang Thanh	Pham Quang Nghi
Nguyen Xuan Phuc	Le Thanh Hai
Nguyen Tan Dung	Nguyen Sinh Hung
Nguyen Phu Trong	Ngo Van Du
Le Hong Anh	Dinh The Huynh

Le Hong Anh, 62, from southern province of Kien Giang, Minister of Public Security, Politburo member of the 9^th and 10^th tenures. He was Party Secretary of Kien Giang Province, Vice Chair and Chair of the Central Inspection Committee.

Nguyen Tan Dung, 62, from the southern province of Ca Mau, Prime Minister, Politburo member of the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th tenures. He was Party Secretary of Kien Giang province, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam and Deputy Prime Minister.

Ngo Van Du, 64, from the northern province of Vinh Phuc, Chief of the Party Central Committee Office

Le Thanh Hai, 61, from the southern province of Tien Giang, HCM City Party Secretary, Politburo member of the 10^th tenure. He was Chief leader of the HCM City Vanguard Youth Force, Vice Party Secretary and Chairman of HCM City.

Nguyen Sinh Hung, 65, from the central province of Nghe An, Deputy Prime Minister, Politburo member of the 10^th tenure. He was Chief of the State Treasury, Deputy Minister and Minister of Finance.

Dinh The Huynh, 58, from the northern province of Nam Dinh, Chief Editor of The People Daily, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association.

Pham Quang Nghi, 62, from the central province of Thanh Hoa, Hanoi Party Secretary, Politburo member of the 10^th tenure. He was Vice chief of the Central Committee for Culture and Ideology, Party Secretary of Ha Nam province, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Tong Thi Phong, 57, from the northern province of Son La, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman. She was Party Secretary of Son La province, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Council of Ethnic Groups, Chairwoman of the Central Public Relations Committee.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 57, from the central province of Quang Nam, Chairman of the Government Office.

Tran Dai Quang, 55, from the northern province of Ninh Binh, Deputy Minister of Public Security.

To Huy Rua, 64, from the central province of Thanh Hoa, Chief of the Centra Information and Education Committee, Politburo member of the 10^th tenure. He was Party Secretary of Hai Phong City, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Institute for Politics.

Truong Tan Sang, 62, from the southern province of Long An, Secretariat permanent member, Politburo member of the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th tenures. He was Chairman and Party Secretary of HCM City, Chief of the Central Economic Committee.

Phung Quang Thanh, 62, from Hanoi, Minister of Defense, Politburo member of the 10^th tenure. He is the Hero of the People’s Armed Force.

Nguyen Phu Trong, 67, from Hanoi, National Assembly Chairman, Politburo member of the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th tenures.

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