Newly-elected Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son highlights four priorities for the next five years.

Vietnam's new Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son

Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs at the 11th session of the 14th National Assembly.

The Deputy Foreign Minister and seasoned diplomat was appointed Vietnam's foreign minister on April 8, one of 12 new ministers and department heads named by the new government.

(New Vietnamese Foreign Minister on VGP)

The 59-year-old, who has a bachelor's degree in diplomacy and a master's degree in international relations, has largely been in diplomacy, having been deputy department chief and deputy director of what is now the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam between 1996 and 2000, counsellor and envoy at the Vietnamese embassy in Singapore from 2000 to 2003, deputy chief of the Department of Foreign Policy from 2003 to 2007, and its chief from 2007 to 2008.

In 2008-09 he was assistant to the minister of foreign affairs before becoming deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh congratulated Mr. Bui Thanh Son for his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs by the Party and State. Photo: VOV

Vietnam Times online magazine would like to introduce the Brief Biography of Vietnam's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son:

Biography of Minister of Foreign Affairs:

Date of birth: October 16, 1962

Native land: Tay Mo Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Ha Noi

Date of Party admission: June 11, 1986

Education background: International relations

Member of the Party Central Committee, 12^th, 13^th tenures

Deputy to the National Assembly, 14^th tenure

Working history

September 1987 – June 1993: Staff at the Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

June 1993 – March 1996: Head of European – American Studies Department, Chief of Chancery, Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

March 1996 – February 2000: Deputy Director, Secretary of Party Committee of the Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

March 2000 – July 2003: Minister Counselor, Embassy of Viet Nam in Singapore

August 2003 – September 2008: Deputy Director-General and then Director-General, Foreign Policy Planning Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

September 2008 – November 2009: Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs cum Director-General of Foreign Policy Planning Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Head of the Negotiation Delegation on the EU-Viet Nam Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (from September 2008-June 2021)

November 2009 – January 2016: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

January 2016 – January 2021: Member of the 12^th Party Central Committee, Deputy to the 14^th National Assembly, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

January 2021: Elected as member of the 13^th Party Central Committee at the 13^th National Party Congress

From April 8, 2021: Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Tarah Nguyen