Best and brightest businesspeople honored at Asia Business Leaders Awards

mercredi 23 novembre 2016

Asia's most innovative business figures were honored for their contribution at CNBC's 15th Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA).

The awards gathered high-profile business figures from 10 countries in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday to vy for the accolades of Asia Business Leader of the Year, Asia Disruptor of the Year, Talent Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Indonesia Business Leader and Lifetime Achievement.

Meet the business stars who took out this year's awards.

Achal Agarwal, President of Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific

In eight years at the helm of Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific, Agarwal made the region Kimberly-Clark's largest international market. Its portfolio of brands, which include Kleenex, Huggies and Kotex, are also consistently featured among the most trusted brands in APAC.

Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific has also received recognition under Agarwal's leadership for innovation, talent development, sustainability and corporate citizenship. Some of the awards include Most Admired Company in South Korea and HR Asia's Best Employer Award 2015 in Hong Kong.

With more than 30 years of management under his belt, Agarwal strongly believes in the need to empower his staff with the freedom to make decisions, but he also stresses that they are accountable for their results.

"I'm delighted that Kimberly-Clark has been recognized for its innovation, sustainability and talent," Agarwal said at the awards ceremony.

Agarwal is also a board member on the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, WWF-Singapore and Asia Venture Philanthropy Network.


Maximilian Bittner, founder and CEO of Lazada

Bittner is the driving force behind Lazada, an e-commerce marketplace which has been hailed as the "Amazon of Southeast Asia."

The consultant-turned-entrepreneur has overseen Lazada's rapid growth, expanding its products and services to support consumers and businesses, and developing its own logistics network in the geographically- and culturally-diverse region.

"I want to thank my staff, they've been absolutely amazing,this award is theirs," said Bittner.

The Alibaba-backed online marketplace has steadily gained traction since it launched in 2012. Gross merchandise volume, which is the total value of transactions made on Lazada's platforms and a closely-watched metrics for e-commerce companies, jumped 167 percent on-year in 2015.

Rohana Rozhan, Group CEO of Astro Malaysia

Accountability and authenticity are the twin pillars of Rohana Rozhan's leadership style.

As the chief of a major telco, she holds regular town halls and dialogue sessions across all levels in the organization, which can stretch as long as three hours because she takes the time to ensure every employee has equal chance of being heard, and that she promotes the strategic objectives and key messages of Astro Malaysia.

Rozhan, who has steered the Malaysian media and entertainment group for the past five years, carefully handpicks an "A-team" of employees who are self-motivated and hold values that are aligned to the company's aspirations.

Somchai Lertsutiwong, CEO of Advanced Info Service

As the leader of Thailand's biggest mobile operator, Lertsuitiwong is committed to ensuring that Advanced Info Service (AIS) contributes back to society.

As a result, the company pursued corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives including the "Good Kids Great Hearts" project which provides financial aid to children from impoverished or broken families. AIS also conducts relief efforts in areas hard hit by the annual floods in Thailand.

The telco has run several environmental preservation campaigns, some of which were to combat paper waste and educate the public on proper electronic waste disposal.

Muhammed Arif Wibowo, CEO of Garuda Indonesia, and Taswin Zakaria, CEO of Maybank Indonesia

The Garuda Indonesia and Maybank Indonesia bosses would not be split, resulting in a tie for the Indonesian Business Leader of the Year award.

Wibowo, who took the top job in 2014, transformed Garuda Indonesia with his "Quick Wins" strategy that drove network restructuring, fleet management and the reduction of overheads.

Under Wibowo's guidance, Garuda Indonesia clocked positive performance growth by end-2015, with domestic and international flight frequency up 9.53 percent and passenger numbers up 13.12 percent on-year.

The Indonesian airline has also won 49 national awards and 15 international accolades since he took the helm, including the World's Best Cabin Crew 2014-2016 in Skytrax World Airlines awards.

Meanwhile, Maybank Indonesia CEO Zakaria, assumed his role in 2013, after serving as the bank's independent commissioner since 2003.

Some of Zakaria's major contributions were the management of the bank's capital efficiency to kickstart growth. Zakaria took steps to reorganize the corporate banking unit, and to generate income through transactional banking and cash management.

Maybank Indonesia reported a 40 percent increase in full-year operating profit for 2015.


Liu Chuanzhi, founder of Lenovo and chairman of Legend Holdings

The Lifetime Achievement award recognizes business pioneers for their achievement, innovative spirit and contributions to Asia's evolving business landscape.

Known as the "Godfather of Lenovo," Liu is a respected business veteran and entrepreneur whose contributions have helped propel China's technology sector onto the international stage.

"I would like to thank CNBC for giving me this award. I feel inadequate and humbled, especially when compared to past winners," Liu says.

Past winners of the Lifetime Achievement award include Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai of Japan.

The Chinese entrepreneur is chairman of the Hong Kong-listed Legend Holdings, a conglomerate that has has a portfolio of more than 20 businesses.

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Best and brightest businesspeople honored at Asia Business Leaders Awards

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