Filipinos shine in Asean Business Awards

MANILA, Philippines - Several Filipinos won prestigious awards during the Gala Night of the ASEAN Business Awards in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, with five Filipino enterprises receiving recognitions for the awards.

Awarded the top prize for the Women Leader category was Sandra Sanchez Montano of Community Health Education Emergency Rescue Services (CHEERS) Corp., who received the same citation at the Philippine level of the ASEAN Business Awards in recognition of her exemplary business leadership skills.

Four other Philippine national winners were named as first runners-up in their respective awards categories: International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) for Corporate Excellence in recognition of its outstanding growth performance, commitment to the welfare of its employees, and impactful corporate social responsibility programs; Pointwest Technologies Corp. for Innovation in line with its consistent and fearless setting of new benchmarks for its industry and peers; Golden ABC Inc. for ASEAN Centricity, lauded as a model for companies aiming to enter into the integrated ASEAN market in a position of strength; and Paulo Tibig, president of Vcargo Worldwide/Vintel Logistics Inc. for Young Entrepreneur, who can serve as inspiration to future captains of industries.

Fountainhead Technologies Inc., which garnered the ASEAN Business Awards Philippines’ Best SME award, was also recognized along with the national level winners from the 10 ASEAN member countries.

CHEERS joins the ranks of ASEAN level winners for the other five awards categories:  Absolute Kinetics Consulting of Singapore for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Blue Ocean Operating Management of Myanmar for Young Leader; and Keppel Land, UOB (United Overseas Bank Ltd.), and Cyclet Electrical Engineering Pte. Ltd. of Singapore for Corporate Excellence, Innovation, and ASEAN Centricity, respectively.

This year’s winners bested more than 500 companies from across the ASEAN region that applied for the awards, all of which went through the careful prescreening conducted by ASEAN BAC’s strategic partner KPMG, and stringent deliberations by the panel of judges representing each of the 10 ASEAN member countries.

“This is a proud moment for the Philippines, with our national winners taking their place among the Most Admired ASEAN enterprises in the region,” said ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines and PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. “These awards are a well-deserved recognition of the efforts of   Philippine enterprises to raise their level of competitiveness in light of the ongoing ASEAN economic integration.”

“Our Philippine winners at the ASEAN Business Awards helped drive awareness of the upcoming ASEAN integration and more importantly, our winners’ success will serve to encourage more Filipino enterprises to take advantage of the many opportunities integration offers for growth and expansion,” noted by ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines member and SM Investments Corp. vice chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson.

“Because the ASEAN Business Awards celebrates not only large corporations, but also our micro, small and medium enterprises, it is the best platform to herald its positive impact on the economy,” shared ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines member and Interior Basics Export Corp. president Jay Yuvallos. “96 to 99 percent of local firms across ASEAN are MSMEs, so it’s time to showcase success stories that our own Filipino MSMEs can emulate.”

The 2014 ASEAN Business Awards Gala Night served as the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2014, an annual event organized by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) to bring together ASEAN’s influencers from the government and the business community.

Attended by approximately 800 delegates, the summit featured informative plenary presentations on issues related to the ASEAN economic integration. Among the speakers and panelists were Yuvallos, who joined the discussion on the Power of MSMEs, and Eric Alberto, PLDT executive vice president and head of Enterprise, International, and Carrier Business, who shared his insights as panelist on the Potential of the ASEAN Consumer.

The ASEAN Business Awards was established by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) to recognize enterprises in the region that have contributed to the growth and prosperity of the ASEAN economy. Since its launch in 2007, the annual awards have awarded more than 60 large companies and micro, small and medium enterprises throughout the region that excel in the categories of: Growth, Employment, Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).