Nguyen Duc Thanh: Founding President

Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh is a Vietnamese economist, the Founding President of the Viet Nam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS), a think-tank he established in 2020 in Ha Noi. Mr. Thanh was known nationwide as he was the leader of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), a think-tank he co-founded in 2008 and acted as its President till February 2020. Under his leadership, VEPR has been widely recognized in Viet Nam as a strong advocate of the market economy reform, civil society empowerment and the implementation of the rule of law. Dr. Thanh was a member of the Economic Advisory Group to the Vietnamese Prime Minister during 2011-2016. He was an Associate Professor of Economics at Vietnam National University (Ha Noi) during 2018-2020.
Dr. Thanh has been publishing extensively in academic journals and been involved actively in the country’s policy debates. He is the founder and chief editor of the influential Vietnam Annual Economic Reports, which has been annually published by VEPR since 2009.
Dr. Thanh has been a member of Eisenhower Fellowships since 2015. In 2019, he was a recipient of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade’s ASEAN@50 Fellowship for distinguished scholars.
Nguyen Duc Thanh earned his PhD. in Development Economics from National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, Japan in 2008.

Pham Van Long: Director

Pham Van Long holds an M.A. in the Master of Public Policy from Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management. Working in development sectors, he has a lot of experience in designing research tools, sampling, conducting qualitative study and quantitative study, monitoring and impact evaluation. He obtained a strong knowledge and experience in microeconomics, especially in the agriculture economy and rural development sector and also has significant experience working with people of disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minorities, the poor, etc.

Currently, Pham Van Long works in VESS as a Director.

Pham The Anh: Chief Economist

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham The Anh graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Business Administration, National Economics University in 1998 and earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manchester in 2003 and 2007 respectively.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham The Anh was a senior researcher of the Policy Advisory Group, Ministry of Finance from October 2007 to December 2008. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham The Anh is now a senior lecturer in Macroeconomics at the National Economics University cum Chief Economist at Thang Long Securities Company. He is also the author/co-author of many working papers published in prestigious domestic and international scientific journals. Dr. Anh was in charge of chief economist of VESS starting from 2021.

Le Minh Hien: Deputy Director of Administration and Communication

M.Sc Le Minh Hien received a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the Ha Noi University of Science, Hanoi National University in 2016.

Le Minh Hien is currently the Deputy Director in charge of administration and communication. Before joining VESS, Le Minh Hien has been worked at academic research centers and NGOs in Vietnam.

Nguyen Khac Giang: Senior Fellow Researcher

Nguyen Khac Giang is a research fellow at Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS). Giang is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where he compares the Vietnamese and Chinese political developments. He was formerly Head of the Political Research Unit of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR). His co-authored book, Civil Society in Vietnam: An Institutional Approach, was published in 2018 and received the IRED Vietnam’s Best Book in Economics Award in 2019. His academic work appears in, among others, the Asian Journal of Political Science, Contemporary Southeast Asia, the Constitutional Political Economy, and the Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies. He also writes extensively for major Vietnamese and English news outlets, including the VnExpress, Saigon Times, Zing News, Vietnamnet, the Diplomat, and the East Asia Forum. He is a frequent commentator on political developments in Vietnam and has been featured in the Economist, Financial Times, Reuters, BBC, AP, and other international news media.

Dang Thi Bich Thao: Senior Researcher

After graduating as valedictorian with a Master’s degree in Economics from Vietnam Japan University, Thao gets a full scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education (Mext) to study a doctoral program at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Thao’s research interests are modeling, regional economics, health economics, agricultural economics and fiscal policy. Before joining VEPR, Thao has many years of experience working on development projects funded by the United Nations for the National Assembly and Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong: Financial Officer

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong graduated from the Hanoi National Economics University in 1993. Huong is currently in charge of financial issues for VESS’s projects. Priorly, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong used to work as the financial officer and accountant for some projects funded by UNDP to the Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs of the National Assembly and the Office of the National Assembly; the Insitute for Economic and Policy Research.

Hoang Long: Projects Manager

Hoang Long received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Certificate in Chinese Studies from Simon Fraser University, Canada in 2020. During his studies, Long received a one-year exchange scholarship at Tsinghua University, China and Waseda University, Japan.

Before joining VESS, Long worked at a non-governmental organization working in the field of environment and promoting circular economy in Vietnam.

Nguyen Duc Hieu: Researcher

Nguyen Duc Hieu graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from the National Economics University in 2017. Currently, Hieu is a researcher in Economics 4.0 of VESS.

Phan Nhat Quang: Researcher

Phan Nhat Quang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. Currently, Quang is a researcher of VESS.

Ha Thi Diu: Researcher

Ha Thi Diu graduated Master’s Program in Public Policy at Vietnam Japan University; a Research in the Macroeconomics team at VESS.

Le Ha Phuong: Researcher

Nguyen Cam Nhung: Senior Researcher

Dr. Nguyen Cam Nhung earned Master Degree in International
Economics, PhD in Economics from the National University of Yokohama. Before joining VESS, she worked as a lecturer and Vice Dean of Faculty of International Business and Economics,
University of Economics and Business at VNU. Now, Dr. Cam Nhung She is a Senior Researcher at VESS.

Pham Tuyet Mai: Senior Researcher

M.Sc Pham Tuyet Mai received a Master’s degree in Agribusiness Management from National Pingtung University of Sciences and Technology, Taiwan in 2006.

Mai is now a Ph.D. candidate in Agribusiness Management, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand; Senior Researcher at VESS.

Before joining VESS, MSc. Pham Tuyet Mai has been a researcher and project coordinator for the Agricultural Policy Advisory Center of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Analyst. Investment Strategy of the Prosperity Initiative; Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research.

Do Thi Le: Projects Manager

Do Thi Le graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, majoring in International Economics. She is currently in charge of VESS projects manager.

Vu Thi Phuong Thanh: Researcher

Tang The Anh: Researcher