Thai businesses have again distinguished themselves at the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (Aces), held for the first time in Thailand.
Guests from 12 Asian countries and economies attended the Grand Gala celebrations at Plaza Athenee in Bangkok last night. They were from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Pakistan and Hong Kong.
After an impactful five-year stint in Singapore, the event was held in Bangkok this year.
For individual categories, Thongma Vijitpongpun, founder and chairman of Pruksa Holding Plc from Thailand won Entrepreneur of the Year; Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, CEO of Sintesa Group from Indonesia, won Woman Entrepreneur of the Year; and Johary Mustapha, CEO of Forest Interactive from Malaysia, won Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Eleven Thai and Thailand-based corporations were among other Asian companies to be lauded in the Leadership and Sustainability categories of the Aces awards.
AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd, Shell Company of Thailand Ltd and True Corporation Plc won awards for Top Community Care Companies in Asia.
King Wai Group won Asia's Most Admirable Young Leaders, Nestlé (Thai) Ltd and Generali Thailand won Outstanding Leaders in Asia, Polyplex (Thailand) Plc and WP Energy Plc won Asia's Most Influential Companies, and Tetra Pak Thailand won Top Green Companies in Asia.
Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance Plc won Top Workplaces in Asia and Frank Insurance Broker (Thailand) Co won Asia's Most Promising SMEs.
The Philippines fielded the highest number of outstanding business leaders, numbering 15, followed by Malaysia with 14, Thailand with eight and Singapore, five.
There were 31 nominees in the Sustainability category, with Thailand leading by eight, the Philippines with seven, Indonesia and Singapore fielding four nominees each, and three Sri Lankan and Malaysian companies in the mix.
Bundit Jiamanukoonkit, country manager and chief executive officer of Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc, said, “The qualities that a good leader needs to have are sales, presentation and communication skills to influence stakeholders to believe and move in the same direction.”
Antonio Hang Tat Chan, executive vice chairman of King Wai Group (Thailand) Plc, who was inducted into the ranks of Asia’s Most Admirable Young Leaders, noted that the opening doors of mergers and acquisitions have connected different countries with massive cultural shifts.
“An inspirational leader is one who is open-minded and ready to share, and who can obtain innovative ideas from the team to achieve business objectives,” he said.
Thai companies fared equally well in the Sustainability category. Three Thai companies — AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd, The Shell Company of Thailand Ltd, and True Corporation Plc — were included in the Top Community Care Companies in Asia category.
These distinguished themselves with their stellar commitments to the communities they operated in.
The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca launched its Healthy Lung Thailand programme, Shell Thailand operates its School Road Safety programme, and True Corporation introduced a programme for children with autism.
The Aces Awards is a one-of-a-kind platform which champions resilient, sustainable and responsible business growth in Asia.
Designed to build a platform for business leaders and their companies to learn, build connections across industries, and exchange ideas on best practices and the ethics of good business building, the Aces Awards has been held annually for six years.
“In the true sense of the word, sustainability means 'the capacity to endure'. In business, that means you’re in it for the long haul. It means setting up a business that will be resilient and will thrive in the long term," said Shanggari B, chief executive officer of the Mors Group, the organiser of the Aces Awards.
"A sustainable business is one that generates profit while improving societal and environmental conditions. At Aces 2019, it is my pleasure to name and celebrate some of these forward-thinking companies,” he said.
Hemant K Batra, chairman of the jury panel of Aces Awards, said this year has seen several companies admirably boost their corporate social responsibility efforts.
"No longer is giving back to society something which is done vis-a-vis. Social consciousness now has a place in the strategic structure of businesses.
“The old days of divide and conquer are passing. Market domination in business is no longer an end game these days. More socially responsible ways of thinking, corporate leaders who have developed an ecological conscience, and newer, more environmentally positive ways of doing business have resulted in a sea change in the way companies and corporations are run," he said.