ADB appoints new country director for Vietnam

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Shantanu Chakraborty as its new country director for Vietnam, the bank said in a release.

Chakraborty succeeds Andrew Jeffries who ended his term as country director on April 27, 2023.

Taking office on Monday, the Indian national is expected to lead ADB’s operations in the country, represent the bank in policy dialogue, and further foster its relationship with the government and other stakeholders.

He will supervise the implementation of the country's partnership strategy for 2023 - 2026, which focuses on Vietnam’s transition to a green economy, harnessing the private sector, and promoting social equity.

According to Chakraborty, for 30 years, ADB has been a trusted partner of the government and the people of Vietnam. “I am pleased to lead ADB’s ongoing efforts to further strengthen the partnership between the bank and Vietnam. ADB is continuing its lending and non-lending support to foster inclusive, green, and private sector-led growth in Vietnam, and building the foundation for the country to achieve the goal of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030,” he said.

Chakraborty holds a master’s degree in management from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India; a master’s in business administration in finance from the Stern School of Business of New York University; and an engineering degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India.

He boasts almost 28 years of professional experience across South, Central, and West Asia, as well as in the U.S., including 18 years with ADB. He was director of the Infrastructure Finance Division 1 and earlier director of the Private Sector Transaction Support Division in the Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD). His earlier roles in ADB included being a senior advisor to the vice president (Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations) and Principal Investment Specialist in the PSOD.

Before joining ADB, he had almost 10 years’ experience in project finance and investment banking in India (with ICICI Bank) and the U.S. (with UBS Warburg and Landesbank Hessen Thuringen).

Vietnam is a founding member of ADB. Since the bank’s establishment in 1966, it has committed 457 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $16.5 billion to the Southeast Asian country.

Established in 1966, it now has 68 members, including 49 in the region. The bank is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia-Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

Last week, ADB revised its Vietnam growth forecast down to 5.8% for 2023 and 6.5% for 2024, from 6.5% and 6.8% in April, respectively. The developing economies in Asia forecast to grow the fastest in 2023 are India at 6.4%, the Philippines at 6%, and Vietnam at 5.8%, the bank said.