The Asean Business Awards (ABA) 2016 were unveiled on Monday in conjunction with the Asean Summits at a reception in Vientiane, attended by Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somdy Duangdy, other ministers and distinguished guests.
To reduce the development gap between the newer members of Asean and the rest, special new awards were introduced under the category CLMV SME Excellence A ward.
In addition, three award categories saw the presentation of scholarships to study at top European or American institutions, those being the Young Entrepreneur, Woman Entrepreneur and Best Innovation SME winners.
Two business operators of Asean countries won the Laos Priority Sector Excellence Award and two won the Friend Asean Award, while nine companies won the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Priority Integration Sector Excellence Award and five were runners up. These awards were presented by Mr Somdy.
Eight compa nies won the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Excellence Awards followed by eight runners up while four companies won the CLMV SME Awards and four were runners up, with these awards presented by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ms Khemmani Pholsena.
One company won the Young Entrepreneurs Award and one was a runner up. There was one winner and one runner up in the Women’s Entrepreneur Awards, one winner and one runner up in the Outstanding Women’s Leader in STEM Business Awards and one winner and one runner up in the Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs in STEM Business Awards.
The organisers also presented Certificates of Appreciation for ABA Laos 2016 and ABA 2016 as well as scholarships to the ABA winners.
The Asean Business Awards (ABA) is an awards programme organised by the Asean Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) designed to recognise the outstanding enterprises in the Asean business community.
The ABA was launched for the first time in 2007 and since then it has served as a platform to showcase outstanding business practitioners in Asean.
The ABA have rewarded more than 60 companies through the region that excel in categories such as growth, employment, innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Following the success of the ABA 2015, Asean-BAC expanded categories in 2016 to include the Priority Integration Sector (PIS) as well as recognising outstanding young entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs and leaders.
Finally, to acknowledge the contribution of non-Asean companies in the development of regional economies, it also created an award for Friends of Asean.
The Asean Business Awards were conceived to be the first of their kind in the region with the dual objectives of recognising outstanding Asean enterprises and to serve as a platform to spread information concerning the AEC.
In addition, the awards shine the spotlight on promising Asean SMEs that have the potential to become global economic players.
Asean is one of the regions to become a major economic force in Asia and a driver of global growth.
To reach that goal, greater cooperation among public and private sectors in Asean countries needs to be in place.
Source: Vientiane Times
