The Mysterious Female Tycoon in the Vietnamese Stock Market
In the list of the richest people in the Vietnamese stock market, updated until February 2024, Ms. Vu Thi Hien – the wife of Mr. Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Group (HPG) – is ranked as the second richest female entrepreneur in the stock market and the seventh richest person in the Vietnamese stock market with an estimated asset value of 12,240 billion VND.
This asset value comes from Ms. Hien’s ownership of over 400 million HPG shares, equivalent to 6.88% of the company’s charter capital (as of November 6, 2023). With this asset value, Ms. Vu Thi Hien is even richer than many other famous entrepreneurs such as Mr. Bui Thanh Nhon – Chairman of the Board of Directors of No Va Investment Corporation (NVL), Mr. Truong Gia Binh – Chairman of FPT Corporation (FPT), Nguyen Duc Tai – Chairman of The Gioi Di Dong Corporation…
As of December 2023, the shares held by Ms. Hien and related members, including Mr. Tran Dinh Long and his son Tran Vu Minh, accounted for about 35% of Hoa Phat’s shares.
Mr. Tran Dinh Long.
Although regularly appearing in the top 10 of the richest people in Vietnam, and also the second largest shareholder of Hoa Phat Group after Mr. Tran Dinh Long, the information related to Ms. Hien is quite scarce. Vu Thi Hien is considered the most mysterious female tycoon in the stock market.
This is because Mrs. Hien has never appeared before the media. She has also not participated in any leadership or management activities at Hoa Phat but has always remained in the background to provide strong support for her husband and son.
In an interview with the press a few years ago, when asked about his wife and the company’s business, Mr. Long frankly said: “Wives are absolutely not allowed to work here, especially the wives of company leaders. Even my wife, she is absolutely not allowed to hold any position or job at Hoa Phat.
But this does not mean that Hoa Phat does not value women. As a heavy industry company, the proportion of women in leadership positions at Hoa Phat is about 30%, and many of them hold senior leadership positions. I think I should be awarded for the advancement of women (laughs loudly). Just kidding, but I really think that the female officials here have many outstanding qualities such as diligence, carefulness, and truthfully, they are also very capable.”
Although Mr. Long’s wife – a major shareholder of the company – does not participate in any operational activities at a company with a charter capital of hundreds of thousand billion VND, many key positions in Hoa Phat’s current leadership are being managed and frequented by “weak-handed soft-footed” women.
According to the 2022 Annual Report, among the leaders of Hoa Phat, one of the “female generals” that cannot be ignored is Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Thao Nguyen. Ms. Thao Nguyen has been involved in the company’s activities since 1998. In 2010, she was appointed Deputy General Director of Hoa Phat Corporation, and is still in office until the present time.
Or take the case of Chief Accountant Pham Thi Kim Oanh. Ms. Pham Thi Kim Oanh has held the position of Chief Accountant of Hoa Phat Corporation since 2016. Meanwhile, Ms. Bui Thi Hai Van is currently the Head of the Audit Board.
How does Hoa Phat operate under the leadership of Mr. Tran Dinh Long and the female generals?
Established in 1992, Hoa Phat Group operates in 5 main fields: Steel – Steel products – Agriculture – Real estate – Household appliances. The group is operating and contributing to the state budget in 25 provinces and cities nationwide.
In 2023, Hoa Phat produced 6.7 million tons of crude steel. The sales volume of products such as HRC steel, construction steel, high-quality steel, and steel billets reached 6.72 million tons. In which, Construction steel and high-quality steel reached 3.78 million tons. HRC coil recorded nearly 2.8 million tons. Hoa Phat’s steel export market expanded to 39 countries and territories worldwide.
In terms of steel pipes, Hoa Phat supplied 685,000 tons to the market. The amount of galvanized steel reached the same level as the previous year at 329,000 tons. Hoa Phat is now one of the largest and most profitable steel companies in the industry.
Regarding the agricultural sector, the group has optimized the scale and efficiency of investing in animal feed factories, livestock farms for pigs, cows, and chickens nationwide, with the goal of maintaining the leading position and market share in supplying clean eggs and commercial pigs to the market. Among them, Hoa Phat Poultry Farm exceeded the production volume of 300 million eggs for the first time, and introduced pink-shell eggs.
Other business areas of Hoa Phat also had positive results when the company introduced container shell products to the market since early August 2023. Also in August, Hoa Phat put its first container terminal into operation at Dung Quat – Quang Ngai.
The household appliances sector expanded its sales channels and continuously introduced new products such as large-sized freezers, washing machines, bottle water coolers, new-generation water purifiers, air coolers, induction cookers, infrared cookers, dishwashers… to meet market demands.
In 2023, Hoa Phat Group contributed over 9,000 billion VND to the state budget. Among them, the subsidiaries with the largest contributions to the budget are Hoa Phat Dung Quat Steel, Hoa Phat Hai Duong Steel, Hoa Phat Steel Pipes, Hoa Phat Hung Yen Steel, and the Household Appliances Division. From 2007, when Hoa Phat first listed on the stock market until December 31, 2023, Hoa Phat has contributed over 74,000 billion VND to the state budget.
