Interview with Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, interviewed by Laura Phillips Sawyer, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2018
Place of publication: Boston, MA
Language: vie; eng
Number of pages: 26
Subjects: Interviews; Airlines; Businesswomen; Business; History; Economic policy; Commerce; Vietjet Air
Description: In this interview, Madame Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who has a background in finance and trading, explains how she entered the aviation industry and became the President and CEO of Vietjet Air, the first privately-owned, low-cost, international airline in Vietnam.

Madame Thao speaks at length about how she navigated legal, regulatory, and even social challenges to build the successful airline business. Indeed, she explains that, after finally receiving the first private license in the aviation industry, she then had to build a consumer base in a country in which most people had never travelled by air. "Before we joined the industry," she says, "only one percent of the Vietnamese population had access to air travel; it was perceived as expensive and only for the rich." Madame Thao was out to disrupt this notion of air travel by offering safe, but inexpensive flights, not only throughout Vietnam, but across Southeast Asia. In the interview, she also discusses some of the strategies used by Vietjet Air to educate first-time flyers on how to purchase tickets, prepare travel documents, and check baggage.

Madame Thao concludes the interview by discussing in more detail her background in finance. She was part of the team to launch the first private bank in Vietnam, less than thirty years ago, and she explains how, as with Vietjet Air, one strong motivation for getting involved in the banking industry was the large, under-served segment of the population, and the desire to expand access to banking services. Madame Thao also reflects on some of the ways that her training in finance has helped streamline operations at Vietjet Air.

Madame Thao also stresses that, from the beginning, she envisioned Vietjet Air as not only a domestic airline, but one that one that would be fully integrated in the international aviation industry. She explains how she continually pushed for regulatory change in state-owned and government agencies in order to improve operating standards in Vietnam. The result has not only benefitted Vietjet Air, she says, but has also had the broader impact of attracting more foreign investors to enter the Vietnamese aviation industry.
Notes: Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 20, 2019).

Interview translated into English. Transcript available in English and Vietnamese.

Access restrictions to transcript may apply. Contact Baker Library Special Collections for more information.

Access restrictions to transcript may apply. Contact Baker Library Special Collections for more information.

Video interview conducted in English with Vietnamese translator on 2017 December 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City by Laura Phillips Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, through the sponsorship of the Business History Initiative, Harvard Business School.

Interview with Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, interviewed by Laura Phillips Sawyer, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, December 12, 2017, Creating Emerging Markets Oral History Collection, Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

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Mode of access: World Wide Web.