Hong Kong magazine Corporate Governance Asia has named Mai Kieu Lien, the Vinamilk chief, Asia’s Best CEO in the “investor relations” category.

Mai Kieu Lien of Vinamilk has been named one of Asia's top CEOs

Lien, 59, is the first Vietnamese to win the honor, and this year's other winners include the heads of some mega groups like China Telecom, Singapore Airlines, DBS group, Nissan, and the Philippines-based San Miguel.

The “Asian Excellence Recognition Awards” are given away annually to executives in several categories, with communications, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and financial performance being some of the others.

The awards ceremony will be held on March 27, on the magazine's 10th anniversary, in Hong Kong.

Last year the magazine voted Lien as one of Asia’s top business leaders in corporate governance and the US business magazine Forbes ranked her among Asia’s 50 most successful businesswomen.

Vinamilk, as the Vietnam Dairy Products JSC, is commonly known, reported revenues of VND27.3 trillion (USD1.31 billion) last year, more than 30 percent up from 2011.