Thongsavanh Phomvihane


Thongsavanh Phomvihane is a Laotian politician and member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. He currently serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos since November 2024 and is a member of the 11th Central Committee. He previously was the Head of the LPRP Central Committee External Relations Committee.

Early life

Phomvihane is the son of former party General Secretary of the Central Committee Kaysone Phomvihane and Central Committee member Thongvin Phomvihane. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1987.

Career

He has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1991. He was appointed Deputy Director General of the International Organizations Department in 1993, and served as Acting Director General of the International Organizations Department in 1993–95. He began working on China–Laos relations in the late 1990s as Political Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy to China. His first political office came in 2003 when he was appointed Ambassador to Russia, and was officially accredited ambassador to Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan as well. In 2009 he started working in the party's External Relations Committee, and was appointed Deputy Head of the External Relations Committee in 2012 and served until 2015 when he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Later in June 2015 he was appointed Ambassador to Vietnam and served until 2019 when he was yet again appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Two years later, in 2021, he was appointed Head of the party's External Relations Committee. On November 2024, he was appointed as Foreign Minister, succeeding Saleumxay Kommasith.

Personal life

He has three brothers; Saysomphone, Santiphab and Sanyahak. He is fluent in English and Russian.