MADAME NGUYEN THI NGA, CHAIRMAN OF BRG GROUP: MESSENGER OF GENDER EQUALITY

For Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group, efforts in activities to promote gender equality are one of the solutions to sustainably strengthen endogenous capacity.

Madame Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group received the award at the Women's Empowerment Awards (WEPs 2021).

“I am pleased to see that the role of women is being enhanced not only in economic activities, but also in the political, cultural and social fields,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, in her role as Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Women Entrepreneurs (VAWE), reported to the President about the development of the Vietnamese female entrepreneur community at a recent meeting on the occasion of Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day.

She also mentioned some noteworthy figures, that is, more than 20% of businesses in Vietnam are owned by women, more than 51% of Vietnamese businesses have women in their ownership structure, this rate is on par with developed economies such as Singapore, France or Sweden. Not only that, many prestigious global organizations have ranked Vietnam among the leading countries in the field of women's empowerment and gender equality.

These achievements, according to Ms. Nga, are thanks to many policies and programs supporting women-owned businesses that have been put into practice, focusing on the Law on Gender Equality and recently the National Strategy on Gender Equality. These policies have created equal opportunities for men and women in socio-economic development and human resource development, establishing and strengthening cooperative and supportive relationships between men and women in all areas of social life and family equality.

However, the Vice President of VAWE also wants to share the image and activities of the organization representing the voice of Vietnamese female entrepreneurs, not only in terms of protection, but also in building and perfecting women's rights in enterprises. Over the years, events organized by VAWE have prioritized activities to spread awareness of gender equality and women's empowerment to all parts of the country, from big cities to difficult mountainous areas or remote islands.

Typically, VAWE has joined hands with major financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the United States International Finance Corporation (DFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB)... to support credit for women-owned businesses, and to introduce international programs to support female entrepreneurs.

This is also what Ms. Nga is doing at BRG Group, in her role as leader. BRG Group is focusing on investing and sustainably developing an industry that attracts many female workers, which is supermarket system services. But above all, the spirit of gender equality is shared and unified in a group of 22,000 employees, of which women account for 60%. Remember, at the most difficult times of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite being heavily affected, BRG Group still made efforts to contribute a total of more than 200 billion VND to epidemic prevention, control and social security work across the country.

Right now, when the business situation is difficult, putting female entrepreneurs and business owners in general in extremely great challenges, the flame of solidarity, companionship, and sharing is spreading, not only the entrepreneurs, but also the employees in the business are empowered.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group, was awarded the First Class Labor Medal; Top 10 Most Outstanding Entrepreneurs of Vietnam in 2022; 5 consecutive times receiving the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Businesswoman - Golden Rose Cup; Women of Impact Award in ASEAN in 2020.

BRG Group is the only enterprise in Vietnam to receive the First Prize in the Gender Equality through Community Engagement and Partnership category at the Women's Empowerment Awards (WEPs 2021) within the framework of the Women's Economic Empowerment in Asia Program organized by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the European Union (EU) in cooperation with the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Gender equality is a topic that Ms. Nga has passionately researched and shared with female leaders such as Vice President Truong My Hoa and Ms. Ha Thi Khiet on live television since 15 years ago.

Frankly speaking, up to now, Vietnamese women still face many disadvantages, being disproportionately affected by climate change and the negative impacts of the economic crisis. In the workforce, the proportion of women is much lower than that of men, at 70% and 80% respectively. In terms of finance, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women face a huge annual financial gap of 1.2 billion USD compared to small and medium-sized enterprises led by men. In Vietnamese enterprises, women are very underrepresented, accounting for only 18% of the seats on the board of directors.

Therefore, the story of BRG Group's development journey with the leading role of captain Nga, with bold business and investment strategies, bringing many valuable products and services of international quality to the Vietnamese people are vivid examples of the efforts to rise up, creating an equal playing field for male and female entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

In particular, efforts in gender equality in Vietnam have been recognized and appreciated by the international community, becoming a topic shared at many international events and activities through ambassadors like Ms. Nga, so that the international community can better understand and appreciate Vietnam.

In December 2022, at the World Council for Women (WAW!) Conference held in Tokyo, a program attended by the Presidents of many countries, including the Prime Minister of Japan, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga was named in the list of honored businesswomen. Not simply a personal honor, Ms. Nga and the Vietnamese delegates attending the conference that day deeply felt the responsibility, dedication, and "colors" of Vietnamese businessmen in the international arena.

Her speech at the Forum and her speech at the Conference of Japanese Women Entrepreneurs gave the international community an updated perspective on Vietnam, the progress of Vietnamese women as well as the policy system on gender equality.

Ms. Nga is not only known as the never-ending fire-bearer of BRG Group and SeABank. She is leading many other companies, in which she prioritizes focusing and investing heavily in production development, creating many jobs and many products for society, such as shrimp farming projects in Thanh Hoa or cassava starch processing factory in Nghe An...

In her plan, barren lands that cannot produce agriculture will be turned into golf courses, developing the tourism industry, thereby creating tens of thousands of direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. Women in many poor rural areas will have more opportunities to change their lives, which also means tens of thousands of families will have a more peaceful and happy life...

“A good boatman does not come from a calm sea”, the saying that Ms. Nga shared 2 years ago when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the country and internationally has been spread, encouraging the spirit of the business community, and is still her representative image.

The flame of enthusiasm, passion, and optimism towards the future has always been maintained by her during the most volatile business environment. This is also the flame that leads BRG Group and the businesses she leads to build a corporate culture that promotes sustainable development and upright business ethics, thereby creating a solid foundation to help businesses overcome all challenges.

BRG Group