Phuong Thi Minh Tran

Phuong Thi Minh Tran

Senior Transport Specialist

Phuong thi Minh Tran is a Senior Transport Specialist with over 15 years’ experience in project development and management at the heart of the World Bank’s transport initiatives in Vietnam.

Amongst other responsibilities, she is currently the Task Team Leader for the Rural Transport 3 project and its Additional Financing, as well as trust funds supporting project lending and supervision and Analytical and Advisory Assistance.  

Prior to joining the World Bank in 2000, Phuong worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (1984-1991) followed by nine years as a principal specialist within the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Transport (1991 -1999). She has a Master's Degree in Public Policy from National University of Singapore, a BA in Agronomy from Hanoi Agricultural University, and a BA in English from Hanoi Teachers' Training University.

Vietnam is one of the World Bank’s largest clients in the East Asia and Pacific region, with a transport portfolio of around 10 on-going projects (about USD 2,000 millions) covering a wide spectrum of transport modes, including roads, inland waterways, urban transport, and traffic safety. Within this portfolio Phuong has a leading role in the Hanoi Office Transport Team in developing and implementing appropriate policies, strategy, investment plans and operations and maintenance plans in the areas of rural roads and national highways. Phuong has responsibility for the effective coordination of international staff, local experts and local stakeholder groups not only in progressing projects but in related fields, such as governance, public sector reform, social development, social and environmental safeguards, decentralization, and public finance, to maximize the cross-sector development of ideas both within the Bank and with outside agencies.

Phuong is an enthusiastic supporter of transport partnership coordination activities in rural roads and national highway assets management, technical standards, and the rural road surfacing trials and is a driving force behind the ongoing and successful knowledge exchanges and lessons learnt in these areas between Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Laos and Ministry of Transport of Vietnam. Phuong and her team have also been promoting and guiding the Just-in-time gender trust fund initiative to involve ethnic women in road maintenance through the successful trial programme of training and employment in Bac Ha District, Lao Cai province in Vietnam.