Former deputy PM Tran Luu Quang to remain HCMC Party chief for next 5 years

At the first Party Congress held since the city's merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces in July the 58-year-old was named chief by the Politburo, the Communist Party's decision-making body.

The congress wrapped up on Oct. 15.

A native of Tay Ninh Province next to HCMC, Quang has a master's degree in public management.

He was Tay Ninh Party secretary before moving to HCMC as Party deputy secretary in 2019 and to Hai Phong as secretary two years later.

He became deputy PM in January 2023 before taking over as head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission in August 2024.

He was named HCMC Party leader in place of Nguyen Van Nen in August.

He oversaw the reestablishment of a Department of Planning and Architecture to tackle urban planning issues after the merger, which has turned the southern metropolis into a megacity that sprawls more than 6,700 sq.m km right, is home to around 14 million people, contributes a quarter of the country's GDP, a third of government revenues and a fifth of the country's exports.

Its economy is now worth in excess of $100 billion.

Quang's six deputies are Le Quoc Phong, Nguyen Van Duoc who is also HCMC People's Committee chairman, Vo Van Minh, Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Dang Minh Thong, and Van Thi Bach Tuyet.

"With solidarity, dynamism, creativity, daring to think and knowing how to do, I believe the Party Committee and people of Ho Chi Minh City will rise strongly, becoming a new growth pole of southern Vietnam and a modern megacity in Southeast Asia," Quang said on Oct. 13.

The city targets 10-11% annual growth in the next five years, increasing income per capita to $14,000-15,000 by 2030.