Ms. Le Hong Thuy Tien, CEO of Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), has been awarded the Knighthood by the President of the Republic of Italy for her contributions to humanitarian activities and business dynamism, and it is an honor for her to continue to win the ASEAN Entrepreneur Award 2021.

On September 15, at the World Knowledge Forum, CEO Le Hong Thuy Tien - IPPG (Vietnam), CEO GUUD (Singapore), and CEO IX Telecom (Malaysia) were awarded the ASEAN Entrepreneur Award 2021. This award was jointly established in 2016 by South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to offer, connect, and acknowledge the value of ASEAN and Korean enterprises.

Maekyung Media Group and the ASEAN-Korea Centre, an intergovernmental organization tasked with promoting economic and socio-cultural cooperation between the ASEAN Member States and Korea, are the organizers. They have successfully organized the annual World Knowledge Forum, which has featured notable corporate and political speakers such as: Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Baidu CEO, Oracle CEO, Hillary Clinton - Former United States Secretary of State, Tony Blair - Former British Prime Minister, Former German Chancellor, and others.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's awards ceremony was held online during the World Knowledge Forum from September 14 to 16, 2021 in Seoul, with the participation of senior executives from 30 of Korea's largest corporations. More than 4000 representatives of the government and business community from all around the world attend the annual conference of Korea's largest enterprise. The award trophy is handed to the Ambassador in Korea representing the winner's country.

CEO Le Hong Thuy Tien is honored to receive the ASEAN Entrepreneur Award - The most innovative and dynamic enterprise in the world in early Asia 2021, as the leading wing of Vietnam's luxury apparel sector that is always pursuing sustainable growth. The award was received on her behalf by Mr. Mai Tuan Viet, First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea.

The CEO of IPPG has been awarded the ASEAN Entrepreneur Award for 2021

Speaking at the virtual ceremony, Ms. Thuy Tien praised all employees and customers for their support, placing their trust in the strong transformation of IPPG. “The Covid pandemic is a crisis that has profoundly impacted the lives of many people around the world, and over the past few months, Covid has directly affected our employees, family and friends. My sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones during this unprecedented painful time.

During this difficult period, we have been actively supporting the community through the IPPG Community Fund. As the Vietnamese proverb goes, “Wisdom comes in tough times,” and now is the moment for us to standardize, restructure, and give new strategic orientations for future development. We are working hard to contribute to Vietnam's socio-economic development plan. By 2045, we believe that Vietnam will become a developed country. To achieve that vision, the Politburo of Vietnam has issued a resolution establishing an institution with exceptional preferential policies and international competition to create advantageous economic conditions to attract major national projects and strategic investors. In response to that development policy, IPPG and our partners have invested in large projects such as the Financial Center, Airport Smart, Resort Complex, Free Trade Zone, and Discount Shopping. To satisfy the rising demands of e-commerce and export shipping, we recently created Vietnam's first all-cargo airline, IPP Air Cargo.

We look forward to continuing to collaborate and innovate for the benefit of our stakeholders in Vietnam and around the world. Today, I'd like to thank Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen - the instructor, the spouse, who has been with me every step of the way, sharing my failures and successes. This award means a lot to me since it represents my business successes and serves as a reminder to always do your best. Thank you to the organizers; it is an honor to speak online in front of all of you, excellent entrepreneurs working tirelessly to make the world a better place.”

Speech of Ms. Le Hong Thuy Tien at the award ceremony

CEO Le Hong Thuy Tien has contributed to IPPG's growth into one of Vietnam's largest retail businesses, with over 25,000 workers and 33 subsidiaries operating in a variety of industries. She has made several contributions to social activities aimed at empowering and enhancing professional growth in the workplace for Vietnamese women, and she has been invited as a speaker at numerous renowned conferences in Vietnam and throughout the world. She is the first Vietnamese and Asian woman to be asked to speak at the Global Summit of Women twice in two years, in 2018 (Sydney) and 2019 (Basel).

Thuy Tien has also been named by prestigious international magazines as one of the typical successful young businesswomen in Vietnam and Asia, was named by Forbes as one of the Top 50 most influential women in Vietnam 2018-2019, and has received numerous honors and noble medals both at home and abroad.