The newly elected prime minister of Vietnam for the 2016-21 term has addressed the country’s economic development and national security during his acceptance speech.

Members of the lawmaking National Assembly re-elected Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Prime Minister for a new five-year tenure in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Phuc received a 98 percent approval rating from the 489 delegates in attendance. Following his appointment, the head of government made his oath of allegiance to the country, people, and constitution.

“I pledge to do my best to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, State, and people,” the premier said.

Phuc was born in 1954 in the central province of Quang Nam.

His résumé includes top positions in Quang Nam’s administration and Party Committee, serving as Minister-Chairman of the Government Office, and working as Deputy Government Inspector General.

He was Vietnam’s deputy prime minister during the 2011-16 term and voted in as the country’s head of government for the same term in early April.

During his speech after the appointment, the premier discussed several important topics with regard to the development of the state.

Vietnam is ranked fourteenth in terms of global population but 133rd when it comes to gross domestic product (GDP), the Vietnamese leader assessed, highlighting the importance of closing the gap between the Southeast Asian country and other nations.

He addressed multiple issues including high public debt, the impracticality of bad debt, and limited resources for future development.

In order to attain sustainable growth, all effort must be exerted to boost labor capacity and investment efficiency, along with expediting reforms in the political system, education, science and technology, and especially environmental protection, according to the prime minister.

He said that supervision will be tightened on foreign invested projects following an incident in which pollution from the Formosa steel making plant in the north-central province of Ha Tinh caused fish to die en masse in several central localities.

Phuc pledged to comprehensively inspect all major projects across the country and closely monitor their operations and effects on the environment.

One of Vietnam’s biggest potentialities is human resources, the premier underlined, adding that talent in the country needed to be provided with favorable conditions to contribute to national development.

Laws should also be reinforced to prevent corruption, wastefulness and other violations.

Regarding the East Vietnam Sea, Phuc called on all relevant parties to comply with international law and not to complicate the current situation.

The National Assembly had already re-elected Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan as its chairwoman on Friday last week and Tran Dai Quang as State President on Monday.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!