Ly Nha Ky, a Vietnamese actress turned businesswoman and the country’s former tourism ambassador, has been appointed as Honorary Consul of Romania in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Embassy of Romania in Hanoi organized a press conference on Wednesday to introduce Ky, whose real name is Tran Thi Thanh Nhan, as their Honorary Consul in the southern metropolis for the next four-year tenure.

Her time in office began on April 27, 2018.

The appointment is based on a consular agreement between the two countries and suits the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Optional Protocols (signed on April 24, 1963), said Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Valeriu Arteni.

Ly Nha Ky, 36, was a movie and TV star before being appointed a Vietnam tourism ambassador for the 2011-12 tenure.

Ky is also a successful businesswomen outside of her career as an actress.

She is now chairwoman of the management boards of Van Vuong Investment Trading Service Company and Lynk Investment Trading Service Company.

She also founded the Vietnam Health-Education Development Fund (VN HEDF), where she has served as president since its inception in December 2011.

Though an honorary consul is not a professional diplomat, they are chosen by the government of the represented country to look after the affairs of its citizens.

Vietnam currently has 31 honorary consuls, most of whom are Vietnamese citizens and work in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a statistic from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published in online newspaper VnExpress.

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