Ms. Mai Kieu Lien was honored in the Top 100 most powerful women in Asia in 2025.

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien - Member of the Board of Directors and General Director of Vinamilk was honored by Fortune Magazine (USA) in the list of 100 Most Powerful Women in Asia 2025 (Fortune Most Powerful Women Asia 2025). She is the only Vietnamese businesswoman in the F&B and FMCG industry to be honored in this list for two consecutive years (2024, 2025).

Fortune is America's leading business and financial magazine, famous worldwide for its prestigious rankings of businesses and leaders.

According to Fortune, the 100 Most Powerful Women in Asia list recognizes women who are redefining leadership by transforming companies, changing the face of industries, driving growth, innovating technology and improving business quality, while inspiring the next generation of leaders.

This list is built with 5 criteria including: Business size and development; Strategic vision; Promoting innovation, creating breakthroughs; Influence on the business sector and the economy ; Reputation and social impact.

This year, the outstanding female leaders and entrepreneurs honored come from 14 markets including China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), Macao (China) and Vietnam, spanning many fields.

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien was born in France, Member of the Board of Directors and General Director of Vinamilk , is a powerful businesswoman often referred to as "The General of Vietnam's dairy industry".

Joining Vinamilk in 1976 - when the Vietnamese dairy industry was almost undefined, while the rate of malnourished children was high, Vinamilk's leadership and Ms. Mai Kieu Lien always set themselves the responsibility of "how to make it possible for all Vietnamese children to have access to the best quality nutritional products". From this vision, with nearly 50 years working at Vinamilk, including 33 years as General Director, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien and her colleagues have created the success of the largest dairy company in Vietnam, and at the same time the Top 1 most potential milk brand in the world.

Vinamilk has built the foundation for the current Vietnamese dairy industry, dispelling the prejudice that "Vietnam cannot develop dairy cows", pioneering the "white revolution" to build and develop domestic dairy cow farming material areas in the 1990s - a premise for building a large-scale, modern dairy cow farming industry today. Very early on, Vinamilk carried out many activities towards Sustainable Development such as: "Vietnam Milk Fund", "1 Million Trees Fund for Vietnam", or "Vinamilk Pathway to Dairy Net Zero 2050", ...

Under her leadership, Vinamilk has quickly implemented many long-term programs to improve the health of generations of Vietnamese people, especially always paying attention to helping children in all regions have the opportunity to drink milk every day. Notably, the "School Milk" program has been implemented for many years to contribute to improving the nutritional status of preschool and primary school children, reducing the rate of malnutrition, and improving the stature of Vietnamese children; and the "Vietnam Grow Tall Milk Fund" has been continuously implemented for the past 18 years, with nearly 43 million milk cartons given to more than 550,000 disadvantaged children across the country.

The “One Million Trees for Vietnam Fund” was jointly implemented by Vinamilk and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment from 2012 to 2020, planting 1,121,000 trees at 56 locations in 20 provinces and cities across the country. This program is a typical example of efforts and actions for the environment, life and a sustainable future.

From 2023, Vinamilk announced its commitment and roadmap to reach the Net Zero 2050 target. Vinamilk is the first dairy enterprise in Vietnam to have 3 units (including 2 factories and 1 farm) achieving international certification for carbon neutrality (PAS 2060:2014). Vinamilk is also the first dairy enterprise in Vietnam to participate in the global initiative of the dairy industry on Net Zero - Pathways to Dairy Net Zero.

Vinamilk inaugurated two of the most modern “super factories” in the region in 2013 – an important milestone bringing the Vietnamese dairy industry to the world, affirming its production capacity and international technology standards.

Vinamilk's high-tech dairy farm - an important link in the closed production chain from farm to glass of milk, demonstrates the vision of sustainable development and commitment to bringing quality fresh milk to Vietnamese people.

Possessing the most modern farm and factory system, constantly improving quality standards, pioneering the application of breakthrough technologies and a sustainable innovation orientation, Vinamilk has brought Vietnamese products to the top international standards of safety - purity - premium taste. Not only serving the Vietnamese market, Vinamilk has now exported to 65 countries and territories.

During 33 years of leading the business as General Director, with the spirit of innovation, determination and outstanding leadership thinking along with the operating philosophy encapsulated in 3 words "autonomy, determination and kindness" because "food entering the body has no chance to correct mistakes", Ms. Mai Kieu Lien has brought Vinamilk to a respectable position on the world dairy industry map. Vinamilk is currently in the Top 36 largest dairy enterprises in the world (in terms of revenue) and is the Top 1 most potential milk brand globally.

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien was born in 1953. Graduated from the dairy processing department at Moscow University, she returned to Vietnam in 1976, starting her journey at Vinamilk with the aspiration to build a quality source of nutrition for Vietnamese people. She has been the General Director of Vinamilk since 1992 until now.
In her leadership role, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien is a powerful businesswoman with a spirit of innovation and strategic vision to bring Vinamilk to the world; contributing to the construction of the Vietnamese dairy industry, self-reliant by Vietnamese people and known to the world. With her great contributions to the dairy industry, the country's economy and the development of many generations of Vietnamese children, she has been awarded noble titles by the State such as: Third-class Independence Medal (2022), Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period (2005), First-class Labor Medal (2006), Second-class (2001). In 2025, she received the title of Top 60 Outstanding Individuals in the 50-year career of building, protecting and developing Ho Chi Minh City.
Ms. Mai Kieu Lien is one of the developers of the Vietnamese dairy industry and has actively contributed to the development of many generations of children and Vietnamese people through nutrition. She is not only a role model for women in business but also a symbol of dedication, perseverance and aspiration to succeed in life.
She has been voted many times by international magazines such as Nikkei and Forbes Asia in the list of most influential businesswomen in Asia, having made many outstanding contributions to the Vietnamese and regional economies; and is the only businesswoman to be honored with the "Lifetime Achievement" award by Forbes Vietnam.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/doanh-nghiep-doanh-nhan/ba-mai-kieu-lien-duoc-vinh-danh-top-100-phu-nu-quyen-luc-nhat-chau-a-nam-2025-20251012220117433.htm