Vũ Lê Tùng Giang

When Vũ Lê Tùng Giang reflects on his time at Griffith University studying a Master of Commerce degree, he vividly recalls the care and compassion he received as a student.

During his stay, he fell ill and was looked after by the medical staff at the Nathan Health Service.

“They took care of me and sent me to hospital for a comprehensive check-up. I got better soon after, but I was always impressed by their care. It has stayed with me,” he says.

Giang has since embarked on a successful career and embodies that spirit of care in his service to the local community. These qualities have seen Giang recognised as this year’s Outstanding International Alumni Award winner for the Griffith Business School. Studying in Australia was a deliberate decision for Giang, who was offered a job at one of the top four auditing firms in the world after completing his first degree in Vietnam.

“Griffith gave me the advanced financial knowledge and professional work skills that I needed for the banking and finance sector. It still helps me even now in my job.”

Giang joined the State Bank of Vietnam after completing his Master of Commerce degree and quickly rose through the ranks of the Banking Supervision Agency.

He now oversees the training of banking inspectors of Banking Supervision Agency and acts as a focal point to work with foreign banking supervision agencies like the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to secure international agreements of cooperation.

“Monitoring the activity of the banks is an extremely complex job. You need supervisors with several skills and competencies to keep up with the sophisticated technology and financial products.”

Giang is responsible for coordinating and educating state banking inspectors and connecting them with other organisations like auditing firms and state agencies in order to enrich banking inspectors’ knowledge and experiences.

“We are charged with preserving safety in the system. You must be good at your job. You need to be able to uncover risk and be able to put a stop to it before it harms the entire system.”

As a developing country, Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia–Pacific region and is attracting significant foreign investment.

“Many banks from around the world have a presence in Vietnam, with many forms such as 100% foreign-owned banks, foreign bank branches, joint venture banks.”

Giang says the central mission of Banking Supervision Agency (where Giang works) is to contribute to ensuring this economic development is sustainable, by regularly and continuously conducting supervision and inspection activities on banks.

“We have significant experience and success in creating a reciprocal memorandum of understanding with foreign supervision agencies. That’s one of the reasons why the National Australia Bank can enter the market and focus on software services and data analysis with confidence.”

Giang also shares his knowledge, writing for Financial Journal, the Economy and Forecast Review and Inspectorate Journal. His significant contributions to the sector have also been recognised with the Medal of the Government Inspector General.

Yet despite all his professional work, Giang still finds time to give back to the community. In 2018 he was recognised by the Ho Chi Minh Community Youth Union Central Committee for his outstanding achievements in charity work.

As Secretary of the Banking Supervision Agency Youth Union and standing member of the Central Bank Youth Union, he has coordinated several relief projects to support people affected by natural disasters in northern Vietnam including providing food, water and housing.

“I called on my colleagues to help raise money and support people affected by recent flash flooding. With the money raised, we were able to send necessities like rice, salt and clothing to affected areas.”

Giang has also contributed to blood donation campaign drives in affected regions to ensure critical stocks in hospitals can be maintained to save lives.

He also works to provide facilities that enable mountain children to go to school as well as support environmental conservation efforts, which he credits to his time at Griffith.

“The impact of climate change and learning about the evidence-based solutions to address these issues, I learned through my study at the Griffith Business School,” he says.

Giang’s contributions across these community and charity projects are significant, but he remains humble in the part he plays.

“Charity is a wonderful thing that we can do for our community, for our fellow citizens. It’s an individual responsibility and it's part of my duty as a public servant.”

“It’s one of the things I enjoyed about my time in Australia, finding the similarities between our two countries. I found love and compassion for others in need. I consider myself lucky that I got to study at Griffith.”