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| Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Founder and Chairwoman of Vietjet Air (Photo: VNA) |
The three entrepreneurs are Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Founder and Chairwoman of Vietjet Air; Nguyen Duc Thach Diem, CEO of the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank); and Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of Vinamilk.
Thao founded the low-cost airline Vietjet in 2011, with the goal of making air travel more accessible in both domestic and international markets. Since its inception, Vietjet has recorded rapid growth. Last year, the airline served 25.3 million passengers, surpassing the 24.1 million passengers of national carrier Vietnam Airlines.
With her remarkable achievements in the aviation sector, Thao is often known as the first self-made female billionaire in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Diem ranked 71st on Fortune's list. She was appointed CEO of the bank in 2017, two years after the merger between Sacombank and the Southern Commercial Joint Stock Bank under the Government's policy of handling bad debts. Since then, Sacombank has continuously surpassed its growth targets and doubled its asset size to 27 billion USD.
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| Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of Vinamilk (Photo: vinamilk.com.vn) |
The last representative of Vietnam on the list is Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of Vinamilk. She became the 'captain' and steered Vinamilk, the leading dairy company in Vietnam, from 1992.
From being a State-owned enterprise, Vinamilk under the leadership of Lien, was floated in 2003 and is now the largest food and beverage company listed on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HoSE), with a capitalisation of 6 billion USD.
This is the first year Fortune has published the list of MPW Asia. The 100 businesswomen in this year's MPW Asia ranking come from 11 countries and territories, including China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia.
Notably, 20 faces on the MPW Asia list were also honoured in the list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Business of 2024 - a prestigious ranking first published by Fortune in 1998.
Footwear exports maintain double-digit growth
Vietnam earned over 16.53 billion USD from footwear exports in the first nine months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 12.5%, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
With this, footwear ranked 5th out of seven items with export turnover of more than 10 billion USD.
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| Vietnam earned over 16.53 billion USD from footwear exports in the first nine months of 2024. (Photo: congthuong.vn) |
Like textiles and garments, orders from domestic footwear enterprises are getting better towards the end of the year as they prepare to enter the peak production season.
Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, said that orders are currently recovering, but domestic footwear enterprises still face major obstacles due to labor shortages. This is a big challenge, because in labor-intensive industries such as footwear and textiles, human resources are considered the greatest asset.
However, she emphasized that the double-digit growth is quite positive. In 2024, it is likely that the leather and footwear industry will fulfill the target of 27 billion USD.
Statistics also show that leather and footwear export turnover to markets remained stable. In the first nine months, the industry exported 5.58 billion USD worth of products to the US market, up 17.1%, while those to the EU (27 countries) were worth 3.63 billion USD, up 14.3%, and China, 1.32 billion USD, up 5.5% year on year.
At an event related to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) recently organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ms. Xuan said that the association had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to build a trading center for raw materials for the Vietnamese fashion industry.
Ms. Xuan explained that raw materials are a very important factor for the fashion industry, accounting for a very large proportion of up to 65% of the product cost. If the Vietnamese fashion industry can be proactive in raw material sources meeting the standards of the export market, it will quickly meet orders, accelerate the growth rate of the industry, and expand its scale to 100 billion USD by 2030.
Meeting seeks to improve cocoa quality in ASEAN
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| At the 24th meeting of the National Focal Point for the ASEAN Cocoa Club (ACC) on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on October 9. (Photo: VNA) |
The 24th meeting of the National Focal Point for the ASEAN Cocoa Club (ACC) on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme opened in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on October 9, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Addressing the event, ACC Chairman Ramle Hj. Kasin said that Vietnam has advantages in cocoa development and its cocoa area is expanding.
Vietnam has begun establishing a sustainable linkage chain in the sector between producers and the market, providing cocoa beans and powder to regional markets in service of intensive processing, he said.
He noted that the club members are working together to improve the quality of cocoa plants and reduce pesticide residues.
Director of the National Agricultural Extension Centre Le Quoc Thanh said that based on experiences shared by domestic and international experts at the meeting, the centre will devise plans and strategies concerning cocoa planning, land use, and cultivation processes, and projects in support of producers, and conduct transfer technology. This will help producers master farming techniques and participate in sustainable linkage chains, he added.
To Viet Chau, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnam and other ASEAN member countries have cooperation plans to expand the industry and export cocoa products to the global market.
The four-day meeting aims to provide information on technical advancements in cocoa production and discuss solutions to improve cocoa quality and ensure food safety and hygiene in the industry. Sustainable cocoa production models will also be introduced and cocoa-growing regions in Vietnam will be promoted on this occasion.
Participants will review previous meetings, and seek ways to address tariff and non-tariff barriers and unfair trade practices imposed by importers, enhance trade in and outside the bloc, and raise the long-term competitiveness of ASEAN cocoa products./.
Pangasius exports worth some 1.5 billion USD in nine months
Pangasius export turnover reached an estimated 1.46 billion USD in the first nine months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 8%, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exports and Producers (VASEP).
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| Pangasius export turnover in the nine months is estimated at nearly 1.5 billion USD. (Photo: congthuong.vn) |
Although the processed pangasius group accounted for a modest proportion in the period, it increased dramatically by 42%; frozen whole pangasius increased by 24% and frozen fillet or cut pangasius increased slightly by 4%.
Export of the commodity in the nine months is quite positive compared to the same period last year as export turnover continuously recorded positive growth. However, customs data shows that in the first half of September 2024, some major markets witnessed a slight decline such as China and Hong Kong (China) down 19% and Thailand down 23%.
By September 15, pangasius exports to markets still recorded growth due to export turnover in previous months achieving quite positive results. Specifically, exports to the US reached 240 million USD, up 23%; Brazil, 81 million USD, up 26% and Thailand, 43 million USD, up 9%.
In the first half of the last month of the third quarter, Mexico continued to lead the CPTPP market in consumption of Vietnamese pangasius with a value of 3 million USD, up 25% year on year, contributing 30% of the total CPTPP pangasius imports from Vietnam. By September 15, pangasius export to the market reached 55 million USD, up 19% year on year.
Following Mexico, pangasius exports to Canada reached 2 million USD in the first half of September 2024, up 49% year on year. As of September 15, 2024, pangasius exports to this market reached more than 28 million USD, up 13% year on year./.