Coming in at number 66 is Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, founder and Chairwoman of Vietjet , Vietnam’s first private airline. Thao founded Vietjet in 2011 with the aim of providing low-cost air travel, reaching both domestic and international markets. Since its inception, Vietjet has seen remarkable growth.
Last year, the airline served 25.3 million passengers, surpassing Vietnam Airlines ' 24.1 million. In particular, Vietjet's strong growth came from international routes, with 7.6 million international passengers last year, an increase of 183% compared to 2022. Thanks to her outstanding achievements in the aviation sector, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is known as the first self-made female billionaire in Vietnam.
Coming in at number 71 on the list is Ms. Nguyen Duc Thach Diem, CEO of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank ( Sacombank ). Under Ms. Diem’s leadership, Sacombank is on track to successfully complete its 7-year restructuring plan, which is expected to end this year.
Having joined Sacombank in 2002, Ms. Diem was appointed CEO in 2017, after Sacombank merged with Southern Commercial Joint Stock Bank under the Government's policy of handling bad debts. Since then, Sacombank has continuously exceeded its growth targets, while doubling its asset size to 27 billion USD.
The third representative of Vietnam on the list is Ms. Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of Vinamilk. Having studied in the Soviet Union, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien has been with Vinamilk since 1976 as a technology engineer in charge of the condensed milk factory. Thanks to her ability and enthusiasm, she became the leader of Vinamilk in 1992. Under her leadership, Vinamilk was officially equitized in 2003 and is currently the largest food and beverage company listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) with a capitalization of 6 billion USD.
This year marks the first time Fortune has released its Most Powerful Women in Asia (MPW Asia) list. The 100 businesswomen on the list come from 11 countries and territories, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia.
More than half of the 100 women entrepreneurs hold CEO positions, 26 are chairmen of the board, and 11 are chief financial officers. Notably, 13 are regional heads of multinational corporations, including Fortune 500 companies such as Starbucks, McDonald's, and Nike. More than 10% were founders of the businesses they now run.
Notably, 20 faces in the MPW Asia list also appeared in the list of the World's Most Powerful Businesswomen - a prestigious ranking that Fortune first published in 1998.
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