The man behind Vietnam's successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, was formally sworn in as president in Hanoi on Monday.
Authoritarian Vietnam is run by the Communist Party and officially led by the party general secretary, president, and prime minister, with key decisions made by the 18-member politburo.
Following secret voting on Monday, Phuc scored the maximum votes among the almost 500-member rubber-stamp national assembly.
"This is his well-deserved award," said Nguyen Khac Giang, a Vietnamese politics expert from New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington.
Phuc, 66, was Vietnam's prime minister for the last five years, a period in which the economy boomed, and his government's COVID-19 response won plaudits at home and abroad.
According to Giang, Phuc's experience of "Well managing Vietnam's relationship with the US under the turbulent administration of Donald Trump" will stand him in good stead for his foreign affairs responsibilities as president.
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