Mr. Vo Van Kiet was born November 23, 1922 in Trung Hiep commune, Vung Liem district, the southern province of Vinh Long. His birth name was Phan Van Hoa and his nickname was Sau Dan.

Mr. Kiet was admitted to the Indochinese Communist Party in 1939. He joined the Anti-Imperialist Youth Movement and took part in the Nam Ky insurrection.

After the August Revolution in 1945, when the French colonists reoccupied the South, he was a senior member of the Southwestern Region Revolutionary Civil Defence Force. During the war of resistance against the French, he was appointed as a member of the Rach Gia Communist Party Committee, Vice-Secretary and Secretary of Bac Lieu Party Committee.

From 1955 and during the war of resistance against the US, he was the Vice-Secretary of Hau Giang Party Committee and Secretary of Saigon- Gia Dinh Party Committee, and a member of the Southern Central Committee.

In 1976, he became Vice-Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee and Chair of HCM City People’s Committee. Soon after, he was elected as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee.

In 1982, he was promoted to Vice-Premiership and became Chair of the State Planning Commission. In 1987, he was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam and became acting Prime Minister in 1988.

He was Prime Minister of Vietnam from 8 August 1991 to 25 September 1997. He was one of the Vietnamese political leaders that led the renovation (Doi Moi) policy in Vietnam.

From December 1997, he withdrew from the Politburo and became the Party Central Committee’s advisor.

He lived in HCM City during the last years of his life. The Former Prime Minister still showed his interest in the country’s burning issues by writing many articles offering his opinions and solutions.