Women in business
In the industrial kitchen of Tam Duc Cam Pha Joint Stock Company, trays of hot meals are neatly packaged early in the morning. The aroma of food permeates the air, and the machinery hums rhythmically. Few would imagine that this modern kitchen system began as a small food stall nearly 20 years ago. The woman behind this journey is Ms. Pham Thi Cuc, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Tam Duc Cam Pha Joint Stock Company.
In 2007, Ms. Cúc founded her business with only six employees. Starting with food trading and restaurant operations, Ms. Cúc quickly realized that to survive in the long term, she had to prioritize integrity. Food safety became a vital principle. Each meal was not just a business product, but also directly related to people's health. With this in mind, Ms. Cúc persistently invested, standardized processes, and gradually built the foundation for her business.
Over nearly two decades, Tam Duc Joint Stock Company has grown to have more than 400 employees, operating in Quang Ninh, Hanoi , and Phu Tho. Under Ms. Cuc's leadership, the company applies a modern management system, digital transformation in operations, and implements international standards for food safety and environmental management. Every day, the company provides tens of thousands of meals to many large hospitals and units in the coal industry. These seemingly ordinary meals are a measure of the reputation of an entire brand.
The business maintained stable growth, with the average income of employees reaching approximately 12 million VND per month. However, what concerned Ms. Cúc most was not the revenue figures, but the well-being of the workforce, the majority of whom were women. Ms. Cúc demanded full implementation of insurance, maternity leave, and vocational training; and the building of a corporate culture based on the values of "honesty - credibility - professionalism - mutual development." For Ms. Cúc, a business is only sustainable when its employees feel secure and committed.
Beyond just production and business, Ms. Pham Thi Cuc also dedicates much of her heart to humanitarian and charitable activities. For many years, she has maintained a free porridge-making program for patients at Cam Pha Regional General Hospital and K Hospital's Tan Trieu branch. These compassionate bowls of porridge, cooked in the company's own kitchen, carry the spirit of sharing from someone who has experienced many hardships in her entrepreneurial journey.
During the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026, Ms. Cúc dedicated over 800 million VND to social activities such as supporting people in disaster-stricken areas, helping cancer patients, awarding scholarships to orphans, and giving gifts to poor students...
Amidst the growing landscape of female entrepreneurs, Ms. Cúc's story stands out for its simplicity and perseverance: building her business with integrity, developing it through trustworthiness, and spreading it through humanity. This is also the quintessential image of a female entrepreneur in the new era.
Besides the story of the female entrepreneur who built a brand of industrial kitchen equipment, the journey of women in Quang Ninh continues to unfold at the foot of Yen Tu mountain.
Amidst the crowds of pilgrims, it's not difficult to spot Dao Thanh Y women in traditional attire introducing tourists to the customs, food, and folk songs of their ethnic group. The brocade shirts, traditional meals, and call-and-response songs are not only cultural highlights but also unique "tourism products."
In Yen Tu ward, more than 4,200 women members are active in 35 branches and 114 women's groups. They are farmers, small traders, service workers, small business owners, etc., and are also the core workforce of the locality.
In Yen Tu today, women not only play a supporting role but have also taken control of their livelihoods. They harmoniously connect conservation and development, tradition and modernity. From brocade embroidery to organic vegetable farming, from selling souvenirs to community tourism, each economic model bears the mark of the women of the mountainous region: hardworking but unwilling to accept poverty, preserving culture amidst the flow of integration.
Mastering the digital space
At the Ba Chẽ commune cultural center, awareness campaigns on safe social media use were quite lively. In the hall, officials from the Women's Union of the commune presented hypothetical scenarios: lottery winning messages, strange friend requests, or clips containing offensive or defamatory content... immediately, many hands went up. Children sat next to their mothers, and women of various ages discussed how to identify harmful and toxic information and how to protect themselves online.
In a mountainous commune where over 90% of the population are ethnic minorities, access to knowledge about gender equality and digital safety still faces significant gaps. Therefore, the Women's Union officials in the commune not only disseminate information in the meeting hall but also visit each household to guide them on how to identify fake accounts, block, and report harmful content on social media.
The Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Ba Chẽ commune, Tô Hồng Lai, said: "To make dissemination more convenient, the Women's Union of the commune has applied QR codes, allowing people to download documents via Zalo. From printed leaflets, information is now displayed on smartphone screens, making it more accessible and familiar to people in the highlands."
Not only women, but also men and young people are encouraged to participate in the "front" of gender equality in the digital space. In local schools, extracurricular activities and competitions on laws regarding the rights of women and girls attract a large number of students, especially male students. From viewing gender equality as solely a women's issue, many are beginning to understand it as a shared responsibility of the entire community.
Each awareness campaign and small dialogue is contributing to a change in perception: Social media is not just a place for entertainment, but also a space that needs to be protected.
When women learn to participate in social media in a healthy and civilized way, the digital space has become a new and promising business channel. From simply using it for connecting and exchanging information, many women have proactively learned online sales skills, product promotion, and personal branding. As a result, agricultural products, local specialties, and OCOP (One Commune One Product) products are being introduced more widely, reaching customers outside their local area, something that was previously very difficult.
Through exemplary models, digital transformation is spreading widely among women throughout the province. Women's associations at all levels are actively incorporating technology into their communication and branch activities, supporting women in accessing knowledge through social media, mobile applications, and digital platforms. When women take control of the digital space, they not only expand their learning and business opportunities but also contribute to building a safer and more humane online community.
From the industrial kitchen of businesswoman Pham Thi Cuc, the tourism practices of women in Yen Tu, to the online space in the mountainous commune of Ba Che... these small stories are piecing together to form a larger picture of Quang Ninh women in the new era. In this picture, women are not only involved in economic activities, preserving culture, or protecting the environment, but are also proactively asserting their voices and positions in social life and in the digital space.
According to statistics, women account for nearly 50% of the population and over 47% of the workforce in the province. These figures not only represent a percentage but also reflect the increasingly prominent role of women in all fields. When women confidently step outside their comfort zones, they carry with them aspirations for personal and community advancement. These steadfast steps are contributing to the creation of a dynamic, humane, and sustainably developing Quang Ninh.
Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/phu-nu-quang-ninh-tu-tin-toa-sang-3397815.html
![[Photo] Reception to welcome General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife on their State visit to the Philippines](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/01/1780295488620_vna-potal-chieu-dai-chao-mung-tong-bi-thu-chu-tich-nuoc-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-tham-cap-nha-nuoc-toi-philippines-8798060-7855-jpg.webp)
Comment (0)