VietJet CEO receives French Order of the Legion of Honour
VOV.VN - The French Embassy in Vietnam on April 14 awarded the Legion of Honour Order of the French Government to Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of VietJet Air, in recognition of her contributions to developing mutual ties between the two countries.
In her role as Chairwoman and CEO of the SOVICO Group that owns VietJet, Thao has made a number of significant contributions to promoting economic and cultural co-operation between Vietnam and Europe and France in particular.
The 51-year-old billionaire hailing from Hanoi capital is renowned throughout Southeast Asia as a powerful female leader that boasts internationally-known achievements within the global aviation sector.
Thao became both the country’s and Southeast Asia’s first female billionaire after amassing a fortune estimated at US$1.7 billion in 2017. The figure is expected to rise to US$2.8 billion in 2021, according to statistics compiled by Forbes.
She is also the richest woman operating on the Vietnamese stock exchange.
The VietJet CEO was listed among Forbes’ list of the 100 most influential women in the world back in 2019, marking the third consecutive year that she has been featured. In addition, Bloomberg named Thao among their top 50 global leaders in 2018.
Thao’s SOVICO Group has gone on to become a strategic partnership of the UN, along with UNESCO, UNIDO, and UN-Habitat.
