Forbes: Three Vietnamese among Asia’s most powerful biz women

Ms Cao Thi Ngoc Dung founded Phu Nhuan Jewelry in 1998 while she was a state employee.

Starting with one store, she developed PNJ into the biggest jewellery brand in Vietnam, with over 3,000 employees and 200 stores. Last year, PNJ reported revenue of US$350 million and profit of US$23 million.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is a major shareholder in Sovico, which owns the commercial HD Bank and international budget airline VietJet Air.

HD Bank merged with Dai A Bank in 2014 and is now among the biggest joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam, with total assets of nearly US$5 billion, 10,000 employees and 225 branches and offices.

Thai Huong, chairman of TH group, appeared in the list last year. She got involved in the dairy field in 2009 and focused on liquid rather than powdered milk.

Last year, she invested US$2.7 billion in agriculture in Russia with a US$$500 million dairy farm. Her goal is a herd of 350,000 cows producing 1.8 million litres of milk a year. 

In 2015, TH Group’s revenue was US$215 million and made profits of US$45 million.