An official campaign was launched in February for Associate Professor and Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao to run for post. The move took place after the Vietnamese delegation to the United Nations, the World trade Organisation, and other international organisations in Geneva sent a diplomatic note to introduce Thao to delegations of other countries. Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao used to be Deputy Director of the National Border Committee, head of the negotiation delegations of border agreements with neighbouring countries, and a legal advisor to the 2012 draft maritime law. He was Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia and is currently Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait.
