YTL's Ruth Yeoh among Asia's powerful businesswomen

Filepix of Ruth Yeoh

SINGAPORE: Malaysia's Ruth Yeoh of YTL Singapore was named among 50 powerful businesswomen in Asia by Forbes in its fourth annual Asia's Power Businesswomen list.

Yeoh, 32, is also among 12 women in their late twenties to early forties identified as Women to Watch.

The executive director/director of YTL Singapore/YTL-SV Carbon (conglomerate) Singapore is the eldest of five children of Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.

She has been at the family company, YTL, with sales of US$6.3bil since 2005, championing its environmental agenda and raising awareness of climate change.

The other women to watch, include Jean Liu of Didi Dache, a taxi-hailing app in China and Petrea Vela, co-managing director of New Zealand Bloodstock, and Isha Ambani of Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail Ventures.

Among those honoured by Forbes for their achievements and success include Teresita Sy-Coson, vice-chairman of Philippine's SM Investments and chairman of Banco De Oro Universal Bank; and Ho Ching, executive director and CEO of Singapore's Temasek.

Also in the list are Pansy Ho, managing director of Shun Tak Holdings and co-chairman of MGM China; Sun Yafang, chairman of China's Huawei Technologies; Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of Australia's Hancock Prospecting; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder, chairman and managing director of India's Biocon; and Zhang Xin, co-founder and CEO of Soho China.

Others include Yuwadee Chirathivat, CEO of Thailand's Central Department Store Group; Wendy Yap, president director and CEO of Indonesia's Nippon Indosari; and Mai Kieu Lien, chairman and CEO of Vietnam's Vinamilk.

Twenty-seven newcomers who made it into this year's list include Noni Purnomo, president director of Indonesia's Blue Bird Group Holding; Lee Boo-jin, president and CEO of South Korea's Hotel Shilla; Sonia Cheng, CEO of Hong Kong's Rosewood Hotel Group and executive director of New World Development; Wandee Khunchornyakong, chairman and CEO of Thailand's SPCG; Katie Page, CEO of Australia's Harvey Norman; and Helen Yuchengco Dee, chairman of Philippine's Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.

Two top female executives of Alibaba, China's biggest online commerce company are also in the list.

They are newcomer Maggie Wu, the online giant's chief financial officer and driver behind its blockbuster IPO, and Lucy Peng, co-founder of Alibaba and the energy behind its financial services affiliate, Ant Financial.

The candidates are chosen for being active in the upper echelons of the business world in Asia, wielding significant power and having access to robust financial resources. - Bernama