Forbes: Vietnam has the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia

According to Forbes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, General Director of VietJet Air, owns an estimated fortune of about 1.7 billion USD.

According to Forbes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, General Director of VietJet Air, is the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia.

In December 2011, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao launched Vietnam's first low-cost airline - VietJet Air. Just 5 years later, VietJet Air has captured 40% of the domestic aviation market share and achieved revenue of 1.2 billion USD.

According to Forbes, VietJet’s success has made Ms. Thao the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia, and one of only two in Vietnam. Ms. Thao is also one of 56 female billionaires on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires this year.

According to Forbes, 46-year-old Thao has a net worth of about $1.2 billion. Forbes currently estimates the VietJet CEO's assets at about $1.7 billion.

After studying economics and finance in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Thao traded commodities in Eastern Europe and Asia. Returning to Vietnam, she began investing in banks before moving into real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City and resorts in the central region.

The idea of ​​starting a low-cost airline came from Ms. Thao's own predictions that demand for air travel in Vietnam would increase.

Speaking to Forbes, Ms. Thao said: "I always aim for and do big deals. I have never done anything on a small scale. When people trade one container, I trade hundreds of containers."

Ms. Thao studied the models of airlines such as Southwest, Ryan Air and AirAsia. She received a license to launch VietJet in 2007, but high oil prices delayed the airline's launch. In 2010, she entered into a joint venture with AirAsia.

When that plan failed, Thao launched her own airline the following year. Thao and her husband, businessman Nguyen Thanh Hung, own a majority stake in VietJet through Sovico Holdings.

VietJet Air has grown rapidly. From the start, VietJet caused a stir with its bikini-clad flight attendants. VietJet benefited from Vietnam’s growing aviation industry, which grew 29% between 2012 and 2016, and the “inefficiency” of its domestic competitor, Vietnam Airlines. In its second year of operation, VietJet became profitable.

VietJet operates 300 flights a day, including 63 domestic routes and dozens of international flights, and operates 45 jets. More than 35 million passengers have flown with VietJet. The company recently ordered more than 200 aircraft worth nearly $23 billion from Airbus and Boeing. Since its official stock market debut on February 28, the company's shares have risen 47%.

Now, Thao has bigger plans, and the competition is about to get fiercer. “VietJet aims to become an international airline, not just a domestic airline,” she said.

The VietJet CEO doesn't think her entrepreneurial success is down to instinct. "Some people say that whatever I do will be profitable. But I don't think it's that simple," Thao told CNBC. "There's no easy way to be successful. I studied and researched. To be successful, you have to go through a lot of hard work, and you need to have a passion for the business you invest in."

According to Sputnik