Thong is Senior Social Development Specialist of The World Bank. He is responsible for social risk management of the Bank financed project across different sectors in Vietnam: transport, urban development, energy, disaster risk management and rural development. He is based in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Thong has been designing social risk mitigations and monitoring social risk management measures for the Bank financed projects in Vietnam using the Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). He also possesses in depth experience in grievance redress management, with effective solution to resolve the prolonged and complicated complaints related to disputes on land-use history, land tenure, and resettlement arrangement, helping projects to move ahead and achieve development objectives. Thong was co-Task Team Leader of the Results-Based National Urban Development Program in the Northern Mountains Region with total investment of USD 200 million, implemented from 2015 to 2022, with performance-based transfers and capacity supports for those mountainous cities to plan, implement and sustain urban infrastructure. Thong is also co-Task Team Leader for the Bank’s technical assistances to adopt International Sustainability Standard Board’s ESG standards for Cambodia 2023 – 2025. He is also working with the Government of Vietnam for ESG disclosure framework for public sector entities.

Prior to joining the World Bank in 2016, Thong had 17-year experiences working in social development and social-economics policies. Thong was team leader of several research in land acquisition, traditional craft, and culture preservation in National Centre for Socio-economic Information and Forecast, Ministry of Planning and Investment. He also worked with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Electricity of Vietnam, KFW and ADB funded projects in land acquisition, involuntary resettlement, traditional craft village development, ethnic minorities and environment protection. Thong has a Master’s degree in Social Science.