This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 8, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Forbes Asia has named Malaysian taxi-application company Grab co-founder and chief operating officer Tan Hooi Ling as one of 12 “Women to Watch” in Asia, in conjunction with the release of its fifth annual “Asia’s Power Businesswomen” list yesterday. The “Women to Watch” list comprises women in their early 20s to mid-30s, according to the publication published by Forbes Media LLC in a statement.

Besides Tan, among those on the list are: Myanmar’s KBZ Bank executive director Nang Lang Kham; Palazzo Versace and Karl Lagerfeld Hotels (Macau) project manager Sabrina Ho Chiu Yeng; India’s Nalli Group of Cos vice chairman Lavanya Nalli; and ZhenFund partner and chief executive Anna Fang.

As for the publication’s “Asia’s Power Businesswomen” list, in which it recognises 50 businesswomen in Asia who are shaking things up across diverse industries, women from 14 countries are represented this year on the list, which has 27 newcomers, with a quarter of them from the tech sector.

“China and Hong Kong dominate with 14 women, followed by India with eight, Thailand with five and Japan with four. Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam each have three, while South Korea and the Philippines each have two. Macau, Taiwan and New Zealand have one each,” it said.

“The list acknowledges the inroads women are making. To qualify, candidates have to be active in the upper echelons of business in Asia, wield significant power and have access to robust financial resources,” it added.