Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been listed as one of the “100 World’s Most Powerful Women 2024” by Forbes Magazine.
Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai from the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Ms. Paetongtarn ranks 29th globally and is the third most powerful woman in Asia, trailing behind Sandy Ran Xu, CEO of JD.com at 27th, and Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, who is 28th.
In Southeast Asia, other notable women on the Forbes list are Ho Ching, chairwoman of Temasek Trust at 32nd; Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia’s Minister of Finance at 49th; Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC in Singapore at 59th; and Jenny Lee, Senior Managing Partner of Granite Asia in Singapore, at 96th.
Earlier, Ms. Paetongtarn was also featured in Time magazine’s “Time 100 Next” under the leader’s category, as noted by Ms. Jiraporn.
At 37 years old, Ms. Paetongtarn became Thailand’s youngest and 31st prime minister.
“Ms. Paetongtarn is the youngest female prime minister in the history of Thailand,” Ms. Jiraporn remarked.
“Since taking office, she has demonstrated leadership in dealing with several domestic crises, especially the management of flooding in several provinces and the school bus fire incident,” she stated.
During the school bus fire incident, the prime minister “ordered agencies to act quickly and in a timely fashion, including pushing forward various policies from the government of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.”
These policies encompass a three-year suspension of farmer debts, a tourism boost with visa-free entry, a 10,000 baht cash distribution program, the passage of marriage equality, and the 30-baht universal healthcare initiative.
Forbes describes the selection criteria for the 2024 Power List as based on monetary influence, media presence, overall impact, and spheres of influence.
“For political leaders, we weighed gross domestic products and populations; for corporate chiefs, revenues, valuations, and employee counts were critical. Media mentions and social reach were analyzed for all,” it says.
The list represents women who together influence over $33 trillion in global economic power and affect the lives of more than a billion people, through their roles in finance, technology, media, and other sectors, illustrating the significant capabilities of women in leadership, according to the magazine.
