Ngân previously served in the cabinet of Nguyễn Tấn Dũng from 2006 to 2011 under various ministries.[5] Prior to entering national politics, she held the post of Party Secretary (de factoGovernor) of Hải Dương province from 2002 to 2006, being the first woman to hold this position and the only female provincial chief in Vietnam at that time.[6]
She later attended the University of Finance (nowadays the National Academy of Finance), earning a bachelor in financial management. Ngân also earned a master of economics in credit management at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. She held an advanced degree in political theory.[9]
After the unification of Vietnam, Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân was transferred to the Ben Tre Finance Bureau (later renamed the Ben Tre Finance Department) to start her career in finance.
Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam on 9 December 1981 and became a full member of the Party a year later.[11]
She graduated from the rank of Deputy Manager, Head of Department, Deputy Director, Acting Director and was officially appointed Director of Ben Tre Finance Department in October 1991. In April 1995, she was sent to the Central Government and was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance, serving until 2002.
In September 2002, she become the Party Secretary (de factoGovernor) of Hải Dương province (2002-2006). Ngân was the first woman to hold this position and the only female provincial chief in Vietnam at that time.[6]
In February 2006, she was briefly transferred to the Ministry of Finance before being appointed the Permanent Deputy Minister of Trade, serving from March 2006 to August 2007. She was then appointed by Nguyễn Tấn Dũng to head the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, where she gained national prominence for playing a key role in the rescue of 10,000 Vietnamese migrant workers during the Libyan crisis in 2011.[12]
In a YouGov survey in late 2020, Ngân was voted among the five most admired female figures among the Vietnamese public.[13] She retired in March 2021.[4]
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