Powerful women in Vietnamese business

What these famous women have in common is that they are all "female generals" in charge, good at steering businesses through difficulties and developing strongly in the market.

Billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, born in 1970, is currently Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company, Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank ( HDBank ) and Chairwoman and General Director of Sovico Group.

Ms. Thao was born into a family originally from Hanoi. At the age of 18, she had the opportunity to study abroad in the former Soviet Union, majoring in finance and economics. After completing her studies there, she not only graduated from two universities with majors in finance, credit, banking and economics, but also obtained a doctorate in economics at the age of 27.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Eastern European market was in a state of shortage of consumer goods, everything was scarce, Ms. Thao started doing business in many fields from electronics, computers, fax machines to tapes, watches, even agricultural products from Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, China to Eastern Europe.

After returning to Vietnam, she contributed capital to establish Techcombank and then VIB - two of the first private banks in Vietnam.

In addition, she built VietJet Air with the desire to bring Vietnam to the world and bring the world closer to Vietnam. The airline's first flight took off on December 24, 2011, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. To date, Vietjet Air holds a large market share in domestic air transport and is strongly developing its international flight network.

On March 9, 2017, Forbes magazine announced the list of female USD billionaires in the world in 2017, recognizing Ms. Phuong Thao as the first female billionaire in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Businesswoman Nguyen Thi Nga

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga was born in 1955, commonly known as “Madame Nga”. Currently, Ms. Nga holds the position of Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of BRG, a corporation operating in the fields of finance, banking, golf courses, hotels and is Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank). Along with the large scale of BRG, Ms. Nga is considered one of the most influential businesswomen in Vietnam.

Ms. Nga has a Bachelor of Economics from the National Economics University. She has also studied economics in France, Germany, Japan, and Australia. She is also the first Vietnamese person to be invited to study in George Town (USA) sponsored by the Hillary Clinton Foundation, wife of former President Bill Clinton, dedicated to leaders of economic groups.

Ms. Nga is famous for M&A deals, including equitized state-owned enterprises, private enterprises and joint ventures.

In 2006, after divesting from Techcombank, Ms. Nga invested and became the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of SeABank. In early 2019, Ms. Nga left the position of Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of SeABank, and retired to the position of Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of SeABank since April 12, 2019.

In addition to SeABank, Ms. Nga also participates in the Board of Directors/Executive Board at a series of enterprises in the BRG Group "ecosystem".

Mrs. Mai Kieu Lien

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien, born in 1953, is currently the General Director of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk). With 45 years of association with Vinamilk, Ms. Lien has left a strong impression as a talented and inspirational female leader.

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien was born on September 1, 1953 in Paris, France, into a Vietnamese intellectual family. Her parents were both doctors. In 1957, her family returned to Vietnam. After graduating from high school, Ms. Lien went to the former Soviet Union to study milk and meat processing in Moscow.

Returning to Vietnam, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien was appointed Director of Vietnam Dairy Products Company (Vinamilk) at the age of 31. When she took the leadership position of this enterprise in 2003, she successfully brought the Vinamilk milk brand closer to domestic consumers and 23 other countries.

She is the one who turned Vinamilk into a big brand, entering the list of 200 best enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region since 2010.

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien is recognized as one of the best CEOs in Asia in the field of investor relations. She is also the first Vietnamese woman to be listed in the “50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia”. In addition, in 2019, Ms. Lien was also honored by Forbes magazine in the top 50 most influential people in Vietnam.

Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung

Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, born in 1957, is currently the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ). Ms. Dung is known as a "steel" businesswoman in the field of gold, silver and gemstone trading.

She is a founding shareholder (representative of PNJ) and the first chairwoman of Dong A Bank from 1992 to 1997 when Dong A Bank was established in 1992.

In 1979, Ms. Dung passed the entrance exam to Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics. In 1982, she graduated with a major in Commercial Economics, then officially started her first job at Phu Nhuan General Trading Company.

Under Ms. Dung's leadership, the PNJ brand has achieved many outstanding achievements in the domestic and foreign markets. In 2023, Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung was the only Vietnamese person honored as one of the 40 most outstanding icons in the world jewelry industry.

Previously, in 2016, Ms. Dung was on Forbes Magazine's list of 50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia.

Businesswoman Thai Huong

Ms. Thai Huong was born in 1958 in Nghe An, is the founder and Chairwoman of the TH Group Strategy Council, and General Director of Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Before that, she was an officer of the Hai Phong Financial and Pricing Department from 1982 to 1985. After that, she worked as an accountant at Nghe An Fuel Construction Materials Company. In 1989, she worked at Huong Ha Construction Materials Company Limited.

Businesswoman Thai Huong is considered one of the most powerful people in the Vietnamese financial sector. For two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016, Ms. Thai Huong was ranked in the Top 50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia by Forbes .

At the end of 2017, after nearly 10 years with TH True Milk, Ms. Thai Huong left the position of Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of this group to take on the position of General Director of Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (BacABank). However, she will continue to be an advisor to TH True Milk in the following period.

Recently, at the end of 2023, at the Le Fonti Global Awards ceremony, Ms. Huong was honored as "Leader of the Year" in the category of Global Sustainable Development.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, born in 1952, is currently the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of REE Refrigeration and Electrical Engineering Company. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Karl-Marx-Stadt University (Germany), Ms. Mai Thanh joined REE as an engineer in 1982, and then became the company's leader in 1985.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh helped REE escape from its struggles thanks to the Reetech air conditioner brand. This was also the first company to be listed on the Vietnamese stock exchange in 2000.

Businesswoman Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh was honored by Forbes Magazine and ranked 28th in the list of 48 most powerful businesswomen in Asia (ASIA Power Businesswomen) in 2014.

Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh

Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh was born in 1961 in An Giang, known as the "boss" of the seafood industry in Vietnam. She studied at the University of Finance and Accounting in Ho Chi Minh City, graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and is currently the founder and Chairwoman of Vinh Hoan Corporation - the largest producer and exporter of tra and basa fish in Vietnam.

Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company was established by businesswoman Truong Thi Le Khanh in late 1997 in Dong Thap. When it was first established, the initial capital was 300 million and 70 employees, now Vinh Hoan has more than 6,000 employees and 6 processing factories. Currently, Ms. Khanh has turned Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company into a company with large capitalization value in the seafood sector in Vietnam.

Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh was voted by Forbes Vietnam as one of the 50 most influential women in 2019. In September 2020, Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh was also one of the two representatives of Vietnam in the list of 25 most powerful businesswomen in Asia 2020 (Asia's Power Businesswomen).

Mrs. Le Han Tue Lam

Ms. Le Han Tue Lam attracted attention as the youngest "shark" of Shark Tank Vietnam season 6.

Ms. Le Han Tue Lam was born in 1994, from Hai Duong, and is currently the Director of Nextrans Vietnam Investment Fund, in charge of the Southeast Asian and US markets. She graduated from Foreign Trade University in 2016. During her 6 years of working, Le Han Tue Lam worked as a financial analyst intern at IP Communications, a personal credit financial consultant at Citibank, and an investor relations manager at Base.vn.

Since 2019, she has become the Representative Director of Nextrans Investment Fund in Vietnam with the task of searching for and investing in potential new companies as well as supporting previously invested units.

Nextrans Fund has been operating in Vietnam since 2015 and is currently investing in 32 startups.

Le Han Tue Lam is one of three Vietnamese people honored by Forbes in the 30 Under 30 list in 2021.

TH (according to VTC News)

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