A man who fully devoted himself to Vietnam's renewal and development process

ABO/NDO – Tran Quoc Toan, former Secretary of late Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and former Vice Chairman of the Government's Office, reminisced on his memories of the late Government leader, who was fully devoted to Vietnam’s Doi Moi (Renewal) and development process, in an article he sent to Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper.

Late Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (third from left) in a discussion.

“I would like to show my deep respect and gratitude to late Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, who I always considered as my elder brother, for his support during my work at the Government’s Office.

I had the honour to meet Brother Khai in early 1989 at a working session hosted by the city’s leader Professor Dang Xuan Ky, Director of the Research Institute on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thoughts.

My first impression of Brother Khai, who was Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee at that time, was that he was a calm, gentle, sincere, simple, and friendly person. Through his talks, he demonstrated a deep understanding of theory and reality, and expressed his concern on how to get Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the whole country in general, to overcome the serious socio-economic crisis.

In September 1996, I was appointed to work as Brother Khai’s secretary. On my first day at work, he assigned me to prepare documents, articles and speeches for him, and to review and contribute ideas on the submitted documents. He also encouraged me to not hesitate in voicing my opinions on the documents, even if they had already been approved. His directions not only showed his trust in me but it was also a request for a secretary who must be honest and take full responsibility for his opinions.

During my time working with Brother Khai, I learnt the treasured virtues of a Government leader, who always placed the interest of the country and its people first, and thought beyond the stereotypes and clichés in order to seek effective solutions to boost national renewal and development process.

He focused the Government’s directions on three major issues: promoting the establishment and development of a market economy; fostering economic growth and private businesses, while reforming State-owned businesses; and accelerating the country’s openness and international integration.

During his nine years in office as the Prime Minister, from 1997 to 2006, a number of major policies and documents were born, including the Law on Enterprises 1999, the amended Law on Investment 2002, a dossier on Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organisation, the Vietnam – US bilateral trade agreement, and the Government’s Resolution on mobilising non-State sources in such fields as education, healthcare, culture, sports, science and technology. The documents created a significant legal foundation for the country’s economic development.

He also undertook bold measures to improve the business and investment environment. As a result, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was between 7% and 10% during his working tenure, with the macro economy being stabilised, budget deficit and public debt being kept at low rate, and inflation curbed at 4%. Notably, investment efficiency was largely reaped as the country’s incremental capital output ratio (ICOR) index was relatively low, about 5 or less.

The late PM was remembered for his carefulness at work. He welcomed opinions from experts and worked with localities in making policies. He reiterated that leaders of a country couldn’t make decisions arbitrarily, which only aimed to address a specific issue. Instead, the decisions must be in accordance with the whole country’s conditions tor development as well as the current trend in the world.

Whenever there was an arising and complicated problem, he asked for thorough research, in-depth discussions and detailed proposals. Even for documents which were already approved, if there were still different opinions, he would listen to the suggestions and instruct to suspend the implementation of the document or request to perfect the document.

As a Prime Minister, he created a high consensus among the Government to utilise the efficiency in the Government’s directions. With his systematic knowledge and veteran working experience, he fuelled inspiration to his colleagues and subordinates.

He also attached great attention to poverty reduction and hunger elimination. He directed to increase the State budget and available resources to implement programmes on reducing poverty and eliminating hunger. While working with the local authorities, he asked the local leaders and agricultural industry to work with farmers to study the locality’s situation, and identify which plants and animals were favourable for the locality to help increase production, raise incomes and improve the standard of living for the residents.

Brother Khai always kept in mind his responsibilities to the country, people, Party and State. In mid 1997, I was assigned to draft his inauguration speech as the Prime Minister. He requested me not to emphasise the role and powers of a Prime Minister but to convey his promises to the people, Party and National Assembly when taking his post as the new Government leader.

Not only demonstrating his commitments at work, Khai was also willing to admit his shortcomings and take full responsibility in front of the Party, State and people of what he had not fulfilled yet.

In in speech at the ninth session of the 11th National Assembly on June 16, 2006, he said that he was “concerned by bureaucracy, wastefulness, corruption and the theft of public assets. A part of the responsibility lies with the investors, but the government and I, who am the head of the Government, should also be blamed”.

“I have not fulfilled the responsibilities assigned to me and I have to acknowledge my mistakes in front of the people, the Party and the National Assembly. I hope that my successor will learn from my weaknesses,” he said. He also asked the National Assembly to accept his resignation, one year before his term ended.

During my time working with him, I could feel the sincere and heartfelt care from him and his wife, Sister Sau, for their colleagues and subordinates. We always valued and were mindful of Brother Khai and Sister Sau’s attachment to us.”