Speaker > Biography

Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh

Chairwoman/CEO
REE Corporation
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

After graduating from the Technical University, Germany with degree in air conditioning, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh returned Vietnam to work for state owned Refrigeration and Electrical Engineering Corporation since 1982, which is the predecessor of the current REE Corporation. Her working period has been closely connected with REE’s development. She is a successful businesswoman in leading  REE to become the first company of Vietnam especializing in M&E contracting.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh is widely known as a pioneer in the innovation period of Vietnam whose achievements are proved by the corporate growth in scope of activities, market shares, profits, shareholder capital and market capital of REE.

She petitioned the government for privatizing the company which she was running and REE became the first company in Vietnam to be privatized in 1993. She has been holding the post of Chairman and CEO of REE Corporation since then. The initial charter capital of REE was only U.S. dollar 1 million. In order to mobilize capital at a competitive interest rate, REE was the first one which issued sucessfully U.S. dollar 5 million of Convertable bonds to Foreign investors in 1996. Having been privatized, REE made a rapid development in terms of market share, profit and turnover.

In the face of new business opportunities and fund raising demand, she decided REE was the first company to list in Vietnam Securities Market in 2000. She also volunteered to adopt ADB’s model corporate governance charter to REE’s environment.

She has made REE a Vietnam leader in the field of refrigeration, mechanical and electrical engineering along with two other fields, namely strategic investment and real estate.

After 7 years joining in Vietnam Securities Market, REE shares have been known as ‘blue chip’. REE’s charter capital is now U.S. dollar 36 million and its market capital is about U.S.Dollar 540 million.