Phan Văn Khải (; 25 December 1933 – 17 March 2018) was a Vietnamese politician who served as the fifth

Prime Minister of Vietnam The prime minister of Vietnam ( vi, Thủ tướng Việt Nam), officially styled as the Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic ( vi, Thủ tướng Chính phủ nước Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa), is the head of g ...

from 25 September 1997 to 27 June 2006.

Life and career

Phan Văn Khải was born on 25 December 1933 in Tan Thong Hoi Commune Củ Chi District, Saigon in French Indochina. Already during his youth he worked in revolutionary organizations. After the end of the

first Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and the subsequent partition of the country, Pham Van Khai took the opportunity to emigrate to

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

.Bruce Lockhart, William J. Duiker : ''Historical Dictionary of Vietnam'', 3. Auflage, Oxford, 2006, s. 311–312 Phan Văn Khải joined the revolution in 1947 and became member of the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of No ...

on 15 July 1959. From 1954 to 1959, he studied and worked on land reform in

, he then studied languages, at the University of Economics in Moscow

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, until 1965. After the war Phan Văn Khải was temporarily mayor of Ho Chi Minh City. From September 24, 1997 to June 24, 2006, he served as Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He became the first Prime Minister of Vietnam to visit United States, meeting with President George W. Bush. On June 24, 2006, he announced his resignation, along with President

Trần Đức Lương Trần Đức Lương (born 5 May 1937) is a Vietnamese politician who served as the fifth President of Vietnam from 1997 to 2006.Bruce M. Lockhart, William J. Duiker ''Historical Dictionary of Vietnam'', 2006, p. 371. entry Trần Đức Lươ ...

. In the period from 15 December 1998 to 5 November 2001 he also served as chairman of

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, milita ...

. Phan Văn Khải was considered as a moderate reformer who acted in support of the country's economic opening within the political range of Vietnam. He died on 17 March 2018 at his home in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, not long after the 84th birthday.

Personal life

His wife was Nguyễn Thị Sáu, former deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City's Planning and Investment Department. She died in 2012. According to the media, he has a son, Phan Minh Hoan, and a daughter, Phan Thi Bach Yen.

Awards

*: **

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

(November 2006)

References

External links

Vietnamese Embassy biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phan, Van Khai 1933 births 2018 deaths People from Ho Chi Minh City Moscow State University alumni Prime Ministers of Vietnam Deputy Prime Ministers of Vietnam Members of the National Assembly (Vietnam) Members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun