Chairwoman and CEO of Vietnam Dairy Products ( Vinamilk), Mai Kieu Lien, was presented with an award at the 20th Nikkei Asia Prizes at a ceremony in Tokyo, Japan on May 20.

Lien, the pioneer behind Vietnam’s dairy product market, won the economic and business innovation category for her work.

Speaking at the event, Lien said: “We are motivated and determined to becoming Vietnam's No.1 symbol of nutritional and healthy products.”

Lien has decided to donate her 3 million JPY (24,816 USD) prize money to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to provide relief for children in Nepal following the recent major earthquakes.

Along with Lien, Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was awarded in the science, technology and environment category. Meanwhile, Richard Pontzious, artistic director and conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra, received the culture and community prize.

The Nikkei Asia Prizes were created in 1996 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Nikkei Inc.'s main Japanese-language newspaper, the Nikkei. It has always aimed to honour individuals and organisations who have contributed to the region’s development and prosperity.

Vinamilk is one of the best-known brands in Vietnam and has 51 percent of the liquid milk market share.

Its revenue hit over 8 trillion VND (368 million USD) in the first quarter of this year, up 15.6 percent over the same period last year. Vinamilk now owns 70 percent of shares in the Driftwood dairy factory, one of the largest dairy plants in California, the US.

Lien has been included in the list of Asia's Power Businesswomen for four consecutive years and in March s he was named by Forbes as one of the top 50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia.

VNA