Ms. Nguyen Thi Rao, common name Chin Rao, alias Ba Thi, was born on August 11, 1922, in Long Thanh village, Binh Khanh Thuong canton, Cang Long district, now Nhi Long commune, a land of vast It was built up by the alluvium of the Co Chien River, so the fields and gardens were fertile and the trees were lush, but for a long time, the landowners of Ngo District colluded with the French colonialists to occupy all the land, so her family was like many other agricultural situations. People in the area have to live a miserable life as tenant farmers. Her father, Mr. Nguyen Van Rot, was a poor farmer, uneducated but rich in kindness.
Since the 1930s, he was a Communist Party member active in Nhi Long Cell. Suggested by the landowners, he was captured by the colonialists, brutally tortured and then exiled to Ba Ra along with his two sons-in-law.
The family's indomitable tradition has deeply influenced Ms. Nguyen Thi Rao's thoughts and feelings. In 1940, when she was not yet 18 years old, she was enlightened by the Commune Party Cell and assigned the task of liaison between Nhi Long, An Truong, and My Truong communes as a young and cheerful rice trader. The young courier's dynamism, resourcefulness and ingenuity have created trust in the cell. In 1943, she was assigned the additional task of Head of the Commune Red Agricultural Association.
Preparing for the August revolutionary uprising, she was trusted by the Cang Long District Party Committee to mobilize the people of the town and surrounding areas to actively rebel. Together with other mass forces, Cang Long women have made a worthy contribution to the overall success. When the government returned to the people, on September 20, 1945, she was honored to join the ranks of the Indochina Communist Party, now the Communist Party of Vietnam. At the district-wide Women's Conference, she was trusted by women to be elected to the position of President of the Women's Association for National Salvation of Cang Long district, and is also a member of the Viet Minh district ministry.
In 1946, to meet the requirements of the long-term resistance war against the French colonialists, the Cang Long District Party Committee was consolidated. Comrade Chin Rao was promoted to District Party Committee member, in charge of mass mobilization work and Party Secretary of the District Women's Union for National Salvation.
In 1948, comrade Nguyen Thi Rao was withdrawn to become Vice President and then President and Party Secretary of the Women's Union for National Salvation of Tra Vinh province.
The following year, Vinh Tra province was established from the merger of Vinh Long and Tra Vinh provinces. Comrade Chin Rao was sent to study in Truong Chinh class III, in the Southeast region. Here, in 1953, she married comrade Nguyen Trong Tuyen - Provincial Commissioner in charge of propaganda and training of Gia Dinh province. From here she had the alias Ba Thi (Thi Tuyen). According to the requirements of the situation and also so that the young couple could live near each other, after the Truong Chinh class finished, the Parish Party Committee appointed comrade Nguyen Thi Rao to become a Party member of the Women's Union for National Salvation in Gia Dinh - Ninh. (At this time, Gia Dinh and Tay Ninh provinces merged into one). This is an important challenge for comrade Nguyen Thi Rao, who originally came from deep rural areas and now has to return to live and operate legally in the heart of Saigon city. With the protection and support of poor working people in Ban Co and Vuon Chuoi areas, she replaced her husband in raising their young children while mobilizing, gathering, and organizing women, leading them to fight head-on. with the enemy.
After the Geneva Agreement, comrade Nguyen Thi Rao was assigned by the Party to stay in the South, continuing to stick to the Saigon - Gia Dinh area to mobilize the masses to resolutely fight for the enemy to strictly implement the Agreement. Prepare for negotiations to unify the country. When the enemy turned around and severely terrorized the revolutionary forces, comrade Ba Thi still stood steadfastly in the inner city under the love and protection of the masses. During this period, she held many other positions such as Deputy Head of Saigon - Gia Dinh Transportation Department; Acting Secretary of the District Party Committee of District Three, Member of the Personnel Committee of Wing I in charge of propaganda for Go Vap, Binh Hoa, Second District, Third District, Phu Nhuan District. In particular, in mid-1959, comrade Nguyen Trong Tuyen (then Secretary of the Gia Dinh - Ninh Provincial Party Committee) died like a thunderbolt, but comrade Nguyen Thi Rao remained resilient in overcoming the pain of loss and was excited. Fight to contribute more to the revolution, not only for yourself but also for the deceased.
In 1961, comrade Ba Thi was elected to the Executive Committee of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Liberation Women's Association. In 1964, at the Women's Congress of the entire region, she was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the Women's Union for the Liberation of South Vietnam and was appointed by the Executive Committee to the Standing Committee of the Central Association. From then until the day the country was liberated, comrade Ba Thi made many important contributions to the cause of mobilizing Southern women to fight for national reunification.
In March 1969, comrade Nguyen Thi Rao joined the delegation of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam to visit the North. This is the only female representative of the delegation. March 5, 1969 became an important, unforgettable day in her life - meeting Uncle Ho and sitting next to him, reporting to him about the resilient and indomitable fighting movements of women. Vietnam.
After April 30, 1975, comrade Nguyen Thi Rao continued to work at the Central Women's Union and then was assigned to work as Deputy Director of the Food Department of Ho Chi Minh City. This is truly a new battlefield with its full meaning, with the function of ensuring that not a single person in the city's nearly 4 million people goes hungry, in a situation where the country has just escaped war. The former saleswoman with a 4th grade education from the village school rushed into the new battlefield with a kind heart and quickness that surprised even the very people who trusted her with the task.
The Resolution of the 6th Conference of the Party Central Committee (session IV) was born, opening a new direction in the field of circulation and distribution. Applying this Resolution into practice, the City Party Committee and People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City decided to establish the City Food Trading Company. Comrade Ba Thi was appointed Director in July 1980. The company's personnel composition started from a purchasing team consisting of 6 officers and employees (including drivers) who were responsible for contacting customers. Mekong Delta provinces to buy rice to resell to more than 3.5 million city residents and a large number of visitors at a business price that does not cover losses but also earns high profits.
Since 1981, based on the food quota that the Central Government allowed the city to buy, Director Nguyen Thi Rao established relationships with most of the Mekong Delta provinces. It is also worth mentioning that this is a period when hundreds of difficulties of the bureaucratic subsidy mechanism always bind businesses, especially those dealing in food, a strategic commodity that the State monopolizes. manage. To grasp the source of goods, Ms. Ba Thi went directly to the provinces, traveling to each person to grasp the needs of farmers for supplies and goods to supply goods in a timely manner, in exchange for rice grains that they worked hard to make it. With a source of goods in hand, the Food Trading Company has organized a network of 172 stores and 2,578 retail agents throughout the city, ensuring that food is conveniently delivered to consumers. Food retailers in this city are often a combination of the Company and the city's Women's Union. Since then, the Company has guaranteed to buy rice from the source and sell it directly to consumers, quickly mastering and stabilizing the food market in Ho Chi Minh City. Nearly 4 million people in Ho Chi Minh City, although not completely satisfied, have been guaranteed food supply at an acceptable level. Ho Chi Minh City Food Trading Company and Director Ba Thi are considered a dynamic and effective business model in the old mechanism and one of the valuable examples that helps the Party and State gain more experience. Practical experience in innovating socialist business mechanisms. Regarding this issue, comrade Nguyen Van Linh, then Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, wrote: "The Business Company model with Ms. Ba Thi as Director is a form of business management in the transition period." , is the process of implementing planning combined with the use of the market and the struggle for reform to master the market, gradually guiding small rice traders into the socialist orbit)" (Nguyen Van Linh - Words Book introduction: A new management method - Ms. Ba Thi's company. Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House-1984).
Stabilizing and mastering the food market in Ho Chi Minh City in the 1980s was a very significant economic achievement, but it also had important socio-political significance. This has helped strengthen the public's trust in this very sensitive area in the Party and State. Therefore, to recognize the contribution of female Director Ba Thi, in 1983, the State Council awarded her the second-class Labor Medal. Then, in 1984, she was awarded the first-class Labor Medal. And the following year, 1985, she was one of the few Vietnamese women honored as Labor Hero.
Not stopping at trading in the strategic commodity of rice, since 1985, Ho Chi Minh City Food Trading Company invested in the Colusa instant noodle production line, and then the Dong cake factory. Independence. These products quickly dominated the market, contributing to rapidly increasing the company's sales.
The 6th National Party Congress - 1986, with the policy of comprehensively reforming the country, especially in the economic field, gave the Company a new driving force for strong development. Vietnamese rice grains have not only met domestic demand but also begun to have an increasingly large surplus of goods. A business embarked on the field of rice export, in which Ba Thi's Company is the pioneer. From the foreign currency earned from exporting food, the Company has imported a number of modern milling equipment and technologies, helping Vietnamese rice to reach further, entering the most demanding markets with a relatively more equal competitive posture.
Heartbroken by the fact that every year the amount of crude oil from Vietnam's underground is exported directly without processing, losing a significant amount of foreign currency, Ms. Ba Thi proposed to the city and central authorities. invested in Saigon Petro mini oil and gas processing plant in Cat Lai with a capacity of 40,000 tons/year. Saigon Petro was born, although with a rather modest scale, its effective operations have proven the ability of Vietnamese people to absorb and master this modern and quite new industrial field.
In the early 1990s, Ho Chi Minh City Food Trading Company became a multi-functional state-capitalist business model. From the business of purchasing and distributing food, the Company has expanded into the field of processing and exporting agricultural products; oil and gas processing industry and banking credit. The company's commercial products are present not only in the traditional market areas of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, but have also built a reputation in developing countries as well as initially competing in the demanding Western market. Europe and North America. ASIA WEEK weekly voted Director Nguyen Thi Rao as the most successful businesswoman in Asia in 1991 and called her a "female billionaire" with sales of hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Comrade Nguyen Thi Rao is a delegate of the 8th National Assembly, Ho Chi Minh City.
In addition to the title of Labor Hero and two Labor Medals awarded in 1983 and 1984, Comrade Nguyen Thi Rao was also awarded by the Party and State:
-50 years of Party badge.
-40 years of Party badge.
-Class independent Medal.
-First class Liberation Medal.
-First-class Victory Medal.
-First class Resistance Medal.
-First class Anti-American Resistance Medal.