Youthful reformer Dung confirmed as Vietnam's PM

HANOI, June 27 (Reuters) Economic reformer and career security officer Nguyen Tan Dung today took over as prime minister of communist-run Vietnam, which has entered a period of accelerated growth and deepening international ties.

Top of a younger generation coming to power, Dung's confirmation today by an open session of the one-party parliament made him, at 56, the youngest prime minister since the communists unified Vietnam in 1975 at the end of the US war.

''Our urgent task is to quickly develop in a sustainable way and pull the country out of backwardness and fight corruption,'' Dung said in a speech to the National Assembly, the country's highest law-making body.

Dung was groomed for the job over eight years as deputy prime minister to outgoing Phan Van Khai, 72, and he has had a high public profile.

He takes office with Vietnam a regional leader in economic growth and poised to join the World Trade Organisation in October.

Born in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, Dung came through party ranks as a security officer and an advocate of speeding up the 20-year-long process of economic liberalisation.

REUTERS SHB KP1452