The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has appointed Ms. Enika Basu as its new Country Director for Vietnam and head of its multi-country office in Hanoi, as the organization continues implementing nearly $200 million in projects supporting Vietnam's climate resilience and rural development.
Ms. Basu formally presented her credentials to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang on July 30, marking the start of her leadership of IFAD's operations in Vietnam.
"I am honoured to lead IFAD’s work in Vietnam at a time when the country is pursuing an ambitious vision for sustainable, resilient and inclusive rural transformation, including its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050," said Ms. Basu. "IFAD looks forward to working closely with the Government of Vietnam, provincial authorities, development partners, the private sector and rural communities to advance greener agriculture and food systems, and expand economic opportunities for small-scale farmers and rural people. IFAD is also committed to supporting Vietnam in showcasing and sharing its successful development model and strategies with other developing countries through South-South cooperation," added IFAD's new Country Director in Vietnam.
Ms. Basu brings nearly two decades of international development experience, with expertise in rural transformation, inclusive economic development and strategic partnerships across Asia and the Pacific. Most recently, she served as senior adviser to the associate vice-president of IFAD's Department of Country Operations at the organization's headquarters in Rome, where she worked on partnerships with multilateral development banks and global financing mechanisms while supporting oversight of IFAD's country portfolio and pipeline.
Before joining IFAD, Ms. Basu worked with a Rome-based research institute supporting European Commission labor market integration programs and collaborated with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and civil society organizations on rural enterprise development and microinsurance initiatives for workers in the informal economy.
She will oversee IFAD's long-running partnership with the Vietnamese government, which spans more than three decades. During that time, the organization has committed $537 million of its own resources across 19 projects with a combined value of $918 million, reaching more than 1.4 million rural households through programs aimed at improving livelihoods and increasing incomes.
Among its recent initiatives, IFAD highlighted a project in the former province of Bac Kan (now part of Thai Nguyen province) and the province of Cao Bang in Vietnam's northern mountainous region, supporting commercial smallholder farming. The program achieved a multidimensional poverty reduction rate of nearly 40 per cent, exceeding its target of 25 per cent.
IFAD is currently financing two projects in Vietnam with a combined value of nearly $200 million, focusing on climate adaptation, resilience and rural development in line with the government's Vision 2045 strategy.
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