Bùi Thanh Sơn (born October 16, 1962, in

Hà Nội Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

) is a Vietnamese politician. He is currently the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, serving since 2021. He is also a member of the

13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam The 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has been in session since the conclusion of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, 13th National Congress in 2021. It elected, at its 1st Plenary Session, t ...

, a

member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the represen ...

for the 15th term (2021-2026), representing the Vĩnh Phúc delegation, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Central Agencies Bloc, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a member of the National Defense and Security Council.

Early life and education

Bùi Thanh Sơn was born on October 16, 1962 in Tây Mỗ, Từ Liêm District (now Tây Mỗ Ward, Nam Từ Liêm District),

. He currently resides at House A26-BT6, Mỹ Đình 2 urban area, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội. He graduated from Ngô Quyền High School, Hải Phòng under the 10/10 system. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, he completed his studies at the Diplomatic University of Vietnam (now the Diplomatic Academy) with a degree in Diplomacy, having attended from 1979 to 1984. From 1991 to 1993, he earned a Master's degree in

International Affairs International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Additionally, he has studied Advanced Political Theory. Bùi Thanh Sơn's early life and education laid the foundation for his distinguished career in Vietnam's foreign affairs.

Diplomatic and political career

He joined the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) 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 North Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

in 1986 and from September 1987, he started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a research officer at the Institute of International Relations of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After that, he was respectively appointed to the positions of Deputy Head, then Head of the Europe - America Department at the Office of Academy of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From March 1996 to January 2000, he served as the deputy director of the Institute of International Relations and from March 2000 to July 2003, he worked at the Embassy of Vietnam in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

as counselor at the mission. Bui served as deputy director and then Director of Foreign Policy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from September 2008 to August 2009. Bui served as the assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and director of the Foreign Policy Department from September 2008 to November 2009. He also concurrently served as the head of the negotiating team for the Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Vietnam and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

until June 2012. In November 2009, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nguyen Tan Dung Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

and from November 2010, he concurrently served as a member of the National Committee on Youth in Vietnam. From September 2011 to 2015, he concurrently served as a member of the Central Theoretical Council. Bui was re-appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 2015 and from March 2015, he was assigned to be a member and Secretary General of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee for International Integration in Politics, Security and Defense. In January 2016 at the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, he was elected to the

12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam The 12th Central Committee (12th CC), officially stylised as ''XII Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)'', was composed of 180 members and 20 alternates. It was elected by the 12th National Congress on 27 January 2016, and ...

. In May 2016, he was first introduced by the central government to be a candidate for the 14th National Assembly. He was a member of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the executive committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Executive of the Party Committee of Central Agencies, Member of the Party Personnel Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. On the same month, he was first elected as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in 2016 from constituency no. 2 at Đắk Nông Province, with 140,073 votes. During this time, he held the following positions: Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Party Committee and Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In April 2020, he was re-appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs with period starting from 10 February 2020. This was the third time he has been appointed by the Prime Minister. On 30 January 2021, at the 13th

National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam is organized according to the Leninist principle of democratic centralism Democratic centralism is the organisational principle of most communist parties, in which decisions are made by a process of vigorous a ...

, he was elected as an official member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam for 13th term.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On 8 April 2021, he was elected Minister of Foreign Affairs by the XIV National Assembly of Vietnam at the proposal of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. On 6 July 2022, he met with Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...

in Hanoi. Lavrov called Vietnam a "key partner" of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

Personal life

Bui is married and has a son.

Awards and honors

*: **

Labor Order The Labor Order () is an award conferred or posthumously conferred by the Government of Vietnam on individuals and conferred on collectives that have recorded outstanding achievements in labor, creativity or national construction. There are thre ...

(2011) **Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005) **Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister, twice (2009, 2011) *: ** Decoration_without_ribbon_-_en

Isala Order (2014)

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bui, Thanh Son 1962 births Living people Politicians from Hanoi Ministers of foreign affairs of Vietnam 21st-century Vietnamese diplomats Members of the National Assembly (Vietnam) Columbia University alumni Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam