Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
Phan Vn Khi (listen; 25 December 1933 17 March 2018) was a Vietnamese politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam from 25 September 1997 to 27 June 2006.
The prime minister of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Thủ tướng Việt Nam), officially styled as the Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic (Vietnamese: Thủ tướng Chính phủ nước Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa), is the head of government of Vietnam who presides over the meetings of the Central Government (formerly the Council of Ministers). The prime minister directs the work of government members, and may propose deputy prime ministers to the National Assembly.
The head of government is responsible to the National Assembly and serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Council for Defence and Security. Moreover, prime minister is also Chairman of the Council for National Education, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission and the Central Police Party Committee. The tenure of a prime minister is five years, and the term is renewable once. The current prime minister Phạm Minh Chính has served since 2021. In case of incapacity, a deputy prime minister assumes the office of acting prime minister until the prime minister resumes duty, or until the appointment of a new prime minister.
The powers and prestige of the prime minister have varied through the years. Pham Van Dong, Vietnam's second prime minister, often lamented that in practice he had little power. Since the death of Pham Hung in 1988, the prime minister has been ranked 3rd in the order of precedence of the Communist Party's Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Vietnam.