On the afternoon of July 28, at the Government Headquarters, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung received Mr. Jochen Schmittmann - Acting Chief Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Office in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Mr. Fazurin Jamaludin, Succeeding Chief Representative of the IMF in Vietnam and Laos from August 23, 2026.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung respectfully thanked Mr. Jochen Schmittmann for his contributions during his term, especially in maintaining policy dialogue and connecting training programs, building and strengthening capacity; congratulated Mr. Jochen Schmittmann on being assigned a new task and Mr. Fazurin Jamaludin being trusted by the IMF to be appointed as Chief Representative in Vietnam and Laos.
The Prime Minister said that for Vietnam, the IMF is a strategic policy advisory partner, a reliable companion in the socio-economic development process. The Vietnamese Government acknowledges the IMF's assessment and recommendations and considers them an important source of consulting information in policy planning and implementation.
The Prime Minister hopes that in Mr. Jamaludin's new term, the IMF Office will continue to promote its role as an important and positive bridge, contributing to consolidating and further developing substantive and effective cooperative relations, maintaining regular policy dialogues, with practical consultation contents, contributing to Vietnam's rapid and sustainable growth goals.
For his part, Mr. Jochen Schmittmann highly appreciated the good cooperation relationship between Vietnam and the IMF in the past time; said that Vietnam's economy has a very impressive growth rate, Vietnam has managed and responded very well to external shocks and has had many reforms in areas that are very important for long-term growth and development. He said that not many countries can carry out reforms like Vietnam in the past time.
Mr. Jochen Schmittmann also highly appreciated Vietnam's important orientations, especially breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and digital transformation; believing that Vietnam still has room to continue promoting growth, through the harmonious coordination between fiscal policy, monetary policy and other solutions, both supporting growth and contributing to maintaining macroeconomic stability.
Sharing some specific recommendations, he affirmed that the IMF fully supports Vietnam's double-digit growth target and will continue to share assessments and recommendations on Vietnam's economic and policy prospects, including issues related to the financial - monetary and banking sectors.
IMF's successor chief representative Fazurin Jamaludin assessed that Vietnam is entering a new stage of development with many prospects; expressed his impression of Vietnam's double-digit growth aspiration. He wished to continue and promote positive results in cooperation relations between the IMF and Vietnam in his term of office; The IMF is ready to continue to accompany, cooperate and support Vietnam in realizing its goals and development orientations in the coming time.
