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Since he became secretary general of the Vietnam Communist Party, Lam has drawn international attention with his aggressive costs of reducing costs within the government, but he was silent on another drain on the state budget – the ruling party itself.
After taking office last August, he moved this year to eliminate and merge the ministries and central government agencies, half reducing the number of provinces and cities, and dismantling administrative units at the district level. Tens of thousands of civil servants have already lost their jobs. The Ministry of the Interior estimated that in five years, this will have saved 130 billions of Dong (5.2 billion US dollars at today's exchange rate) in the state budget.
In the LAM campaign, was compared to the drastic cuts that US President Donald Trump and the technological billionaire Elon Musk have made American federal agencies through the government's Ministry of Efficiency.
But when it comes to saving money in the state apparatus of Vietnam, Lam seems to have covered his bets.
Vietnam operates under two intertwined systems: the party and the government. Although everyone has a separate budget, the two derive from the same source – taxpayers' money. The party, in power since the end of the Vietnam War and the reunification of the country in 1975, exists as a structure parallel to the government and plays the main role in the development of policies and governance.
Although the government's budget is sometimes made public, party finances remain classified under Vietnamese law.
This policy predates LAM management. However, taking into account his radical efforts to rationalize the state apparatus and reduce expenses, his silence on the party's budget raises questions on the way to the path ready to reform tax.
Seen Tuong, professor and expert in Vietnamese policy at the University of Oregon, said that data show that from 2008 to 2015, the budget of the central office increased regularly.
“Although real expenses are not disclosed, the Party Central Office has seen the quadruple budgetary planned in seven years alone-almost $ 27 million (622 billion Dong) in 2008 at around $ 105 million (more than 2,400 billion Dong) in 2015,” he said.
The office operates as the party's command center, where the secretary general supervises the operations of the party and the government. From 2011 to 2015, its budget increased by 180% – three times higher than the increase in the budget of the government's office, according to Tuong. The publication of data on its expenses ceased in 2015.
Budget is a secret
Zachary Abuza, an expert in Southeast Asia at the National War College in Washington, noted the lack of transparency.
“Party budget is a secret, so researchers must work with imperfect data,” he told Radio Free Asia. He said that Lam was aware of the balloon for recurring expenses and tried to brake them. For example, the party's foreign affairs committee was merged into other entities. However, despite these changes, the overall party budget continues to grow.
“While government agency budgets have shrunk or stagnated, the CPV bureaucracy budget has regularly increased in recent years, if we have the Fatherland Front, the organization that supports party activities”, “ Said Abuza. CPV means the Communist Party of Vietnam.
He said that more transparency could help improve party legitimacy, but given his obsession with maintaining supreme power, “it is difficult to see them cut the party's budget,” he said.
In 2016, Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research estimated that the economic cost of maintaining public mass organizations – directly controlled by the Communist Party – varied from 45,600 to 68,100 billion Dong per year (around 2 billion US dollars at $ 3 billion at the time). These organizations are intended to fulfill roles which, in democratic countries, would be played by independent groups of civil society. To Lam did not indicate if he intended to reduce their funding.
According to Abuza, to the Radical Radical Restructuring of the National Government LAM, including the consolidation of five ministries and several government agencies, and the reduction of almost 50% of the number of provinces, has created a rare opportunity to further reduce state and parties.
However, party budgets and its support organizations are difficult to reduce because they are linked to the inherent interests of the bureaucracy, he said.
There may be a political reason behind LAM's reluctance to target party spending.
The next National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam approaches at the beginning of 2026, when a new generation of leaders is elected. In Lam, 67, would be looking for another mandate as secretary general.
“There is only a half year left to the party congress,” said Abuza. “So there will be no major changes. Normally, spending and implementation of policies would be completely locked at this stage. ”
Edited by Mat Pennington.