New IFC Country Manager to drive inclusive and sustainable growth

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has appointed Mr. Thomas Jacobs as its new Country Manager for the Mekong region, covering Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Based in Hanoi, Mr. Jacobs will focus on supporting the private sector to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth that helps these countries achieve their development targets and recover from Covid-19.

A US national, Mr. Jacobs joined the IFC in 2003 and has worked in various regions, including Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. He led innovative initiatives around women’s access to finance, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and climate, supporting reforms and policy implementation for private sector-led growth across sectors, including infrastructure, agribusiness, banking, and tourism.

“Working across regions for two decades, Thomas brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role, which will help deepen the IFC’s engagements in areas central to the next chapter of the economies in the Mekong countries,” said Mr. Kim-See Lim, IFC Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific. “As the economies recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, he and his team will continue supporting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to build back better and greener, unlocking the potential of the private sector to boost productivity, competition, and innovation.”

Mr. Jacobs’ priorities include increasing financing for local businesses, expanding renewable energy, and promoting climate-smart initiatives to support the countries’ climate agendas.

“The Asia-Pacific region is one where all the talk and commitments out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change will ultimately be won or lost, so a strategic focus for me will be helping countries address their development needs while delivering on their climate pledges,” Mr. Jacobs said. “It is vital to help countries power their future growth in a sustainable way, so that economic development does not come at a detrimental cost to the environment.”

Mr. Jacobs succeeds Mr. Kyle Kelhofer, who has taken on a new role as Senior Country Manager for Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo, after serving as the Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR for seven years.

The IFC’s investment in Vietnam has ramped up over the past five years, expanding into sectors with a focus on infrastructure, renewable energy, and agribusiness and facilitating climate-smart and innovative initiatives. In Cambodia, the IFC has helped foster a robust and competitive private sector by expanding access to finance for smaller businesses, boosting climate-smart agriculture, and improving sustainable infrastructure services essential to business. In Laos, it has focused its financing and advisory work on key areas critical to private sector development and economic growth, including financial, connectivity, renewable energy and job-creating sectors as well as the overall investment climate.