Manh, Nong Duc [key], 1940–, Vietnamese political leader. A member of the Tai minority and a forestry worker, Manh joined the Communist party in 1963 and studied forestry in Hanoi (1958–61) and Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg, 1966–71). In the early 1970s he headed the Bac Kan prov. forestry service and concurrently began his rise in the party, studying in its school (1974–76) and holding provincial party offices (1976–89). He became a member of the national party's central committee in 1989 and chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly in 1992. In 2001 he became general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist party. Relatively moderate, Manh advocated doi moi, the process of reform leading to economic growth, and pledged to fight corruption and speed economic liberalization. Corruption, however, continued to be a problem. He also was an unswerving party loyalist adamantly opposed to political dissent. He stepped down as party leader in 2011.
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