Nguyen Van Phuc, 52, hails from Long An province. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Foreign Trade University in 1995. He then pursued a master's degree in development economics through a joint program between the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2006, he received his doctoral degree in development studies, specializing in economics, from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands.

Before his appointment as deputy minister of education and training in 9/2017, he held positions as vice dean and dean of the economics faculty, subsequently serving as vice rector, party committee secretary, and rector of Ho Chi Minh City Open University.

Nguyen Van Phuc. Photo: MOET

During his nearly 9 years as deputy minister, he oversaw several key areas: higher education; quality assurance and accreditation for higher education; national defense and security education; digital transformation, information technology application; and inspection work within his assigned scope.

He also assisted Acting Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son in directing tasks related to investment conditions and operations of higher education institutions; civil defense work; certain scientific and technological assignments; and the recognition of competitions and Olympic exams in mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, informatics, and other university-level specialties.

Vu Tuan