On July 16, 2025, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh had a meeting with Ms. Mariam J. Sherman, WB Country Director for Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Lao PDR. The meeting was also attended by leaders of the SBV International Cooperation Department and the SBV Office.
At the meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh expressed his pleasure at meeting MS. Sherman again, and spoke highly of Ms. Sherman's positive contributions to the promotion of the cooperative relationship between the WB and Vietnam. Deputy Governor Canh also expressed his beliefs that, under Ms. Sherman's leadership, the WB would continue to play an important role in the policy consultation and the provision of financial assistance for projects on sustainable development and regional connectivity, especially in the areas of climate change response and the Mekong River resource management.
In her response, Ms. Sherman shared some information about the international economic situation, the WB's support orientations for the member countries, and acknowledged the positive results that Vietnam's economy has achieved over the past time. She also spoke highly of the SBV's flexible and effective monetary policy management in the process of the post-COVID economic recovery. In addition, Ms. Sherman shared that the WB has been focusing on building its action policies in Vietnam in various areas, including the policy consultation, technical assistance, and finance mobilization for potential projects.
An overview of the meeting
Ms. Sherman also informed the Deputy Governor about the preparation progress for the negotiations of the WB’s lending portfolio for the 2026 fiscal year, with the expected number of 7 potential projects and a total loan of about 1.52 billion USD. The SBV Deputy Governor acknowledged Ms. Sherman’s information and emphasized that the Prime Minister had issued clear directions requiring the relevant Ministries and agencies to closely coordinate with the WB to fully address any technical difficulties, and accelerate the preparation progress of the key ODA projects. In addition to the efforts from the Vietnamese side, the SBV hoped that the WB could continue to accompany with and support the Ministries, agencies and local authorities during the preparation of the projects, especially the priority ones for the 2027-2029 period.
Beside that, Deputy Governor Canh also affirmed that the Government of Vietnam has been implementing strongly the reforms to improve the legal frameworks for public investment and the management of foreign loans, including ODA funds. Many important laws and decrees are now in the process of being revised in order to simplify the procedures, remove the existing institutional obstacles, and speed up the projects’ preparation and disbursement. In the coming time, the Government would continue to request the relevant agencies to review and revise the relevant laws. The Deputy Governor also believed that those reforms would significantly shorten the projects’ preparation time, allowing the projects to be implemented early and effectively.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh takes a photo with Ms. Mariam J. Sherman and other participants of the two sides
At the meeting, the two sides also discussed about other areas of cooperation and the support from the WB to the SBV in the coming time, including a new technical assistance project currently being jointly developed by the WB, the SBV International Cooperation Department, and other relevant SBV entities. The WB Country Director expressed her support for the proposed project, and committed to closely coordinating with the SBV to accelerate the project’s preparation progress so that it can be implemented at an early stage, thereby contributing to strengthening the institutional capacity and the modernization of the banking sector.
Towards the end of the meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh expressed the SBV’s gratitude and made high evaluation for the WB's effective and timely support to the SBV in particular and the Government of Vietnam in general over the past years. Deputy Governor Canh also affirmed the SBV’s commitment to further coordinating closely and leveraging the WB's resources to serve the country's sustainable development goals.
DL