Tran Luu Quang appointed Party chief of Vietnam's economic hub HCMC

Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Commission Tran Luu Quang, 58, has been appointed by the Politburo as Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, the city's highest-level leader.

Under a decision by the Politburo, Vietnam's supreme decision-making body, Quang, a member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, replaced Nguyen Van Nen to hold the position.

Nen was recently assigned to be a standing member of the Subcommittee on Documents of the 14th Party Congress.

With this decision of the Politburo, Tran Luu Quang has returned to HCMC for the second time. Previously, he held the position of standing deputy Party chief of the HCMC Party Committee for the term 2015-2020 for more than two years.

Quang has held many positions at the central and local levels, including Party chief of Tay Ninh province and Hai Phong city, and standing deputy Party chief of HCMC.

He was assessed by Tran Cam Tu, standing member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, as "having capacity, scientific thinking, and closeness to the grassroots".

Tu said he hopes that the new HCMC Party chief will perform well in his new role, developing the city into a super industrial and financial city and a leading scientific-techlology, cultural and economic center, with an aim to turn the city into one of the top 100 sustainable and smart cities in the world.

Tran Luu Quang's hometown is Tay Ninh province. He has a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

He used to work in Tay Ninh province for a long time, serving as deputy director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment; chairman of the people's committee of a district, Party chief of Trang Bang district's Party Committee; permanent Vice Chairman of the Tay Ninh People's Committee; and Party chief of Tay Ninh province.

In February 2019, he became permanent deputy Party chief of HCMC. More than two years later, he was assigned by the Politburo to be Party chief of Hai Phong city.

In January 2023, at an extraordinary session, the parliament approved appointing him as Deputy Prime Minister.

In August 2024, Quang was assigned by the Politburo to be head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission, which was renamed as the Central Policy and Strategy Committee in February this year.

The new HCMC, after the merger of HCMC, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Duong, has an area of over 6,700 square kilometers and a population of about 15 million. It has become a megacity, aiming to achieve at least 8.5% growth this year.