At the first award ceremony, Forbes Vietnam sought to honour a prominent Vietnamese woman who has gained accomplishments and made contributions to a field, society or country.
In order to select the candidates for the award, the Forbes Vietnam team consulted a panel of prestigious figures in society, including business leaders and intellectuals.
Mai Kieu Lien has been leading Vinamilk for over 40 years, helping the company to become one of the most successful examples of state-owned enterprises in the renovation period.
Continuing to hold key positions in the company, especially the two most important positions as Chairwoman and CEO of Vinamilk, Mai Kieu Lien is the only businesswoman in Vietnam to be consecutively on the list of the 50 most powerful business women in Asia, from 2012 to 2015, as voted by Forbes and named the winner of the 20th Nikkei Asia Prize - Economics and Business Innovation.
In addition, Mai Kieu Lien is one of the 50 most influential women in Vietnam as voted by Forbes Vietnam in 2017. In 2015, she left the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors, focusing on the CEO role.
