World Bank Vietnam appoints new country director

The World Bank has appointed Mariam Sherman as its new country director for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, effective May 1, 2024.

Sherman will replace Carolyn Turk, who became the World Bank country director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in April and is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Joining the World Bank in 1997, Sherman is poised to provide the leadership necessary to achieve impactful results in the region, the bank said in a statement.

Sherman will be based in Hanoi and lead the World Bank’s engagements with the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, development partners, and other stakeholders on initiatives that match the countries’ priorities and the World Bank’s vision to reduce poverty.

A British national, Sherman joined the World Bank in 1997 and has held diverse operational and leadership roles throughout her career across various regions, including East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Central Asia.

Prior to her current appointment, Sherman served as country director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos based in Yangon, Myanmar.

Building on a strong three-decade partnership, the World Bank will continue supporting Vietnam's climate and development goals, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and high-income status by 2045, it added.

As of April 2024, the World Bank’s active IDA/IBRD portfolio in the three countries amounted to nearly $5 billion, with investments spanning across education, health, energy, transport, water, agriculture, urban development, digitalization, and climate adaptation.

The World Bank also leads a strategic analytical program in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to support the countries to undertake critical reforms in fiscal, economic and sectoral areas such as human capital, natural resource management, and climate actions.

The World Bank said last month in its bi-annual economic update that Vietnam’s economy was showing mixed signs of a recovery, with growth forecast to reach 5.5% in 2024 and gradually rise to 6.0% in 2025.