Pham Thi Thanh Tra

Deputy Prime Minister; Secretary, Party Central Committee — Government of Vietnam / CPV

About Pham Thi Thanh Tra

Key facts Role: Deputy Prime Minister; Secretary, Party Central Committee Organisation: Government of Vietnam / CPV Country: Vietnam Sector: Politics & Government (social policy) Headline figures: Oversees three ministries: Home Affairs, Health, and Culture, Sports and Tourism; presented the 2025 plan that cut provincial-level units from 63 to 34 On 28 September 2026 Pham Thi Thanh Tra chaired Vietnam's State Steering Committee for Tourism and told ministries to act "with the greatest urgency". She ordered measurable targets for all 34 provinces and cities and called for detailed preparations for APEC Year 2027 in Phu Quoc, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The meeting showed the breadth of a portfolio that makes her one of the most influential women in Vietnam's government. She is the only woman among the country's six deputy prime ministers, and a member of the Communist Party's 14th-term Secretariat. The role On 8 April 2026 the new National Assembly confirmed Tra as deputy prime minister for the 2026–2031 term, with all delegates present voting in favour. Under Decision 666/QĐ-TTg, signed by Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on 9 April, she oversees three ministries: Home Affairs, Health, and Culture, Sports and Tourism. On the prime minister's behalf she also directs labour and employment, salaries and social insurance, healthcare, population, gender equality, social affairs, culture, and the press and publishing. She chairs the national committees on food hygiene and safety, on population and development, and on salary and social-insurance reform. Since 31 May 2026 she has also headed the National Steering Committee for Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Background Her rise has come mainly through the party's personnel system. Born in 1964 in Nghe An province, she trained as a literature teacher and started work in 1985 at a school in Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province. She spent 35 years in Yen Bai, moving through education, youth-union and party posts to become chair of the provincial People's Committee and, from 2016, provincial party secretary. In October 2020 she moved to Hanoi as deputy head of the Central Organisation Commission, which manages the party's cadres. She served as Minister of Home Affairs from April 2021 until October 2025, when the National Assembly approved her as deputy prime minister. Vietnam Women's newspaper describes her as the first woman to serve as a deputy prime minister since 1945. The provincial merger Her defining work came in 2025, as home affairs minister. On 11 June 2025 she presented to the National Assembly, on behalf of the prime minister, the government's plan to merge 52 provinces and cities into 23. The plan cut Vietnam's provincial-level units from 63 to 34, and it was adopted the following day. Alongside the merger came the abolition of the district tier of local government from 1 July 2025. At the time she told deputies that the provincial bodies affected by the merger had an authorised workforce of 447,657 officials and public employees. The tourism push She now leads a different part of the growth agenda. The tourism sector reported 15.9 million international arrivals in the first eight months of 2026, up 14.5 per cent year on year, and revenue of VND781 trillion (about US$29.7 billion). The culture ministry is aiming for 25 million international visitors this year. Tra has told the sector to use the Politburo's Resolution 26-NQ/TW of 22 August 2026 on tourism to clear institutional bottlenecks and build a national tourism database. She has also asked every locality to develop at least one signature tourism product in 2027. Her regional profile will rise with APEC 2027, which Vietnam hosts in Phu Quoc and whose tourism preparations she is directing. The pharmaceutical committee she chairs is responsible for a strategy to build domestic drug and medicinal-ingredient production to 2030. What to watch next: whether Vietnam hits its 2026 visitor target, how the salary and social-insurance reforms she oversees are rolled out, and her role in APEC preparations. Her place in the Secretariat also makes her a figure to watch in future leadership reshuffles. She ranks 18th as the woman with the widest social-policy remit in Vietnam's government, combined with a seat at the top of the party. Sources Vietnam.vn (from Bao Phu nu Viet Nam), Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tra continues to hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister , 8 Apr 2026 Bao Phu nu Viet Nam, Tiểu sử 3 nữ Bí thư Trung ương Đảng khóa XIV , 30 Jan 2026 Vietnam Government Portal (VGP), Management areas of Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Deputy Prime Ministers , 10 Apr 2026 VGP, New Chairperson of State Steering Committee for Tourism named , 12 Aug 2026 Chinhphu.vn, Kiện toàn thành viên Ban Chỉ đạo quốc gia về phát triển ngành Dược Việt Nam , 31 May 2026 VietnamPlus/VNA, Deputy Prime Minister urges governance shift, institutional reforms for tourism breakthrough , 28 Sep 2026 Bao Phap luat Viet Nam, Trình Quốc hội Đề án sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh năm 2025 , 11 Jun 2025 Vietnam Briefing, Vietnam Officially Consolidates from 63 to 34 Provinces and Cities , 12 Jun 2025

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks 18th as the woman with the widest social-policy remit in Vietnam's government, combined with a seat at the top of the party. The only woman among Vietnam's six deputy prime ministers, she oversees the Home Affairs, Health, and Culture, Sports and Tourism ministries and sits on the Communist Party's 14th-term Secretariat.