First US educated politician in Vietnam Communist Party

The ruling Communist Party in Vietnam has appointed the first US-educated official to its executive committee. 

According to the Guardian, the move comes in an attempt to boost Vietnam’s image among investors in Europe and the United States.

Pressure is mounting to reform the economy, crippled by weak credit and 113 thousand business closures since 2011, since it began to stagnate after years of boom growth. 

Facing some of the toughest economic challenges in years, Vietnams ruling party has vowed to tackle the country’s banking system debt, and mismanaged state-owned firms.

The newly elected official, Nguyen Thien Nhan, received a Masters in public policy at the University of Oregon in 1993 and is a deputy prime minister overseeing education, health and technology.

Nhan joins a group that has long been dominated by politicians educated in Vietnam and the former Soviet Union.

Flickr Photo by: liee_wu

STORY WRITTEN BY: CATLIN SPENCER