Mrs. Mai Kiều Liên, born in 1953, is originally from Cần Thơ but was born in France. She is regarded as a phenomenon among female entrepreneurs and a leading businesswoman in Vietnam’s dairy industry.
Under the talented leadership of Mrs. Kiều Liên, Vinamilk’s revenue has surpassed USD 1 billion, consistently ranking as one of the top enterprises in Vietnam as well as in Asia.
The company’s workforce brings together highly qualified engineers and employees who are passionate about their work. With continuous innovation in business and Mrs. Liên’s forward-looking vision, in 2014 Vinamilk planned to launch an “expedition” into the neighboring country of Cambodia.
Recalling the time when she was assigned to study in Russia, Mrs. Mai Kiều Liên—Chairwoman of the Board and CEO of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk)—believes it was like “destiny.” At that time, the 17-year-old student had no clear concept of the field she would study—dairy processing—especially since in 1969 the dairy industry in Vietnam was still underdeveloped. Five years at university were also a period of deep contemplation about her path after graduation. “There were times when I wanted to change my field, perhaps to education or medicine, as I had dreamed since childhood,” the Vinamilk leader recalled. However, her father believed that this industry would help improve malnutrition among Vietnamese children when the country entered peacetime. This advice helped Mrs. Liên stay committed to completing her studies, although she still had no intention at that time of building a large dairy enterprise.
Upon returning to Vietnam, she was assigned to work as a shift engineer at the Trường Thọ dairy factory. After holding many different positions, by 1992 she became the head of Vietnam Dairy Company. The Vinamilk leader once pondered the fact that Vietnam’s dairy industry could not be fully self-sufficient in raw materials, a key factor that greatly affects business operations. Therefore, she advocated developing dairy farming in Vietnam by transferring cattle breeds and farming techniques, purchasing fresh milk from farmers at prices higher than imported raw materials to stimulate domestic dairy farming. At the same time, in the early 1990s, Vinamilk imported modern machinery to produce UHT fresh milk. The target market remained the highly potential domestic market, as per-capita consumption in Vietnam was still much lower than the global average.
After nearly 20 years at the helm, Mrs. Mai Kiều Liên achieved many successes but also experienced numerous setbacks. Following equitization in 2003, Vinamilk was listed on the stock market in 2006, with a market capitalization of USD 530 million at the time. After five years, its market capitalization reached USD 2 billion—nearly a fourfold increase. That momentum led Vinamilk to orient itself toward becoming a diversified food and beverage group under the Vinamilk brand, including dairy products and non-dairy sectors such as beer and coffee. However, joint ventures in beer production (Zorok) with SabMiller and a coffee manufacturing project did not meet expectations, forcing Vinamilk to divest these two projects to preserve capital.
Rather than waiting for external intervention, the Vinamilk leader believes that businesses must first save themselves, because “distant water cannot put out a nearby fire.” Instead of waiting for interest rates to fall, the company sought alternative funding channels, cut costs where possible, explored new market segments, and created new products. Vinamilk set a goal of achieving USD 1 billion in revenue by the end of that year, aiming to rank among the world’s top 50 dairy companies by revenue by 2017, with USD 3 billion annually. In 2010, Vinamilk was the only Vietnamese enterprise to be included in Forbes Asia’s list of the 200 best companies in the region.
Over time, passion replaced the initial uncertainty and even doubts about choosing dairy processing as her field of study. Today, 90% of Vinamilk’s new ideas originate from its “captain,” Mai Kiều Liên, based on her observation of consumer demand and her curiosity for discovering new and unique flavors. Optimistic in believing that no difficulty is insurmountable—and that such experiences only strengthen one’s resilience—this dairy industry businesswoman always keeps in mind the need to identify which link in the overall chain is problematic and then focus on resolving it.
Source: VNEXPRESS
