The ‘queen’ behind Vietnam’s largest dairy producer added Wednesday another feather to her cap with an award from the Nikkei Asia Prizes, which honor those who are making a difference in Asia.
>> An audio version of the story is available here
Mai Kieu Lien, chairwoman and CEO of Vinamilk, was among only three winners to claim the awards, now in their 20th year, according to Nikkei Asian Review.
The Vietnamese entrepreneur won the economic and business innovation category, whereas Chinese scientist Wang Yifang was winner of the science, technology and environment category.
The 25-year-old Asian Youth Orchestra, a legendary Hong Kong orchestra, took the culture and community category.
"We are motivated and determined to become Vietnam's No.1 symbol of nutritional and healthy products,” Lien was quoted by Nikkei Asian Review as saying at the awards ceremony in Tokyo.
Lien was honored for her tireless efforts to develop the Vietnamese dairy industry.
Vinamilk, fully known as Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, opened a large-scale dairy farm, the first of its kind in the country, in 2006 and has since thrived to become Vietnam's largest dairy producer. The company is also strongly expanding on the global market.
"Vinamilk has grown rapidly and sustainably with a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent per year in terms of revenues and profits," Lien said.
The Vinamilk leader received prize money worth 3 million yen (US$24,816), which she quickly decided to donate to the United Nations Children's Fund to provide relief for young victims of the Nepal earthquake.
''It is my personal desire as well as Vinamilk's business culture to do our best for a better future for children in Vietnam and around the world," she was quoted as saying in her acceptance speech.
In 1990, annual milk consumption per person in Vietnam averaged just half a liter, Nikkei Asian Review said in a separate report on May 14, citing Euromonitor International, a U.K. market research company.
Thanks to the presence of Vinamilk and Lien’s efforts, the figure surged to 18 liters in 2013, a 36-fold increase, and is forecast to reach 50 liters by 2045.
Vinamilk posted net revenue of VND8.07 trillion ($376.08 million) in the first quarter of this year, a 15.6 percent increase from the same period last year, according to data obtained by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The company also enjoyed a 70 percent increase in export revenue.
Vinamilk targets gross revenue of VND39.07 trillion ($1.82 billion) for 2015, which would be a 9.4 percent increase compared to 2014, and post-tax profit of VND6.83 billion ($318.3 million), up 12.6 percent year on year.
Vinamilk products are now available in more than 31 countries, including Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the U.S.
Lien has also been honored many times by Forbes over the last few years.
She was included in the Asia's Power Businesswomen 2015 list, published by Forbes in January.
In 2014 she was also among the 48 most powerful women honored in the 2014 Forbes Asia Power Businesswomen list, together with two compatriots, Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, CEO of the Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE), and Nguyen Thi Nga, chairwoman of SeABank.
Back in 2013, Lien was listed on "Asia's Women in the Mix, 2013: The Year's Top 50 for Achievement in Business,” also published by Forbes.
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