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Asian Business Awards Middle East recognizes and awards Asian
business leaders at a glittering ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
The first Asian Business Awards Middle East (ABA ME) was held on
08th Dec 2007 at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi. The
glittering function was attended by the business community,
government dignitaries, and prominent personalities from Asia and
the Middle East.
Instituted to recognize and award business excellence within the
Asian community and nurtures economic relations between the Middle
East and the sub-continent.
Presented by Al Barari, the premier property developer based in the
capital, have put together this ground breaking event along with
event architects Indian Expressions and Real Media. They
unequivocally believe that this initiative will spur further growth,
cross investment opportunities and promote substantial business
practices.
Recognizing Asian business leaders and entrepreneurs who have walked
the path of excellence, created and built enterprises in the Middle
East and strengthened the traditional historic ties between the two
regions, the winners of the ABA ME publicly nominated and polled for
are:
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Outstanding Asian Business Woman of the Year
Renuka Jagtiani
Chief Executive Office, Landmark International
Outstanding Asian Business Man of the Year
Sunny Varkey
Chairman, GEMS Education & Welcare World
Asian Rising Star of the Year
Ramesh Prabhakar
Managing Director, Rivoli Group
Young Asian Achiever of the Year
Madhu Koneru
Managing Director, RAK Minerals & Metals Investments
Outstanding Asian Contribution to the ME Development
Syed M Salahuddin
Managing Director, ETA Ascon & Star Group
Asian Business Leader of the Year
Yusuf Ali
Managing Director, EMKE Group |
The Jury Choice awards established to acknowledge Asian Business
leaders and visionaries who have dissolved regional boundaries with
their remarkable contributions to the world of business were a
unanimous choice:
Global Asian Award
Lakshmi N Mittal
President of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer
of Arcelor Mittal
Lifetime Achievement Award
N R Narayana Murthy
Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies
Limited |
Through the decades, dynamic Arab business leaders have been
instrumental in strengthening the traditional bonds between the two
regions and the ABA ME has instituted The Arab Honor Awards to
recognize individuals who stand for exemplary business enterprise,
leadership and contribution to the business society. The recipients
this year of the awards are:
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ABA ME The Arab Rising Star Award
H.E. Salah Salem Al Shamsi
President - Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce
ABA ME The Arab Business Excellence Award
H.E. Mohammed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim
Honorary Chairman - Al Fahim Group
ABA ME The Arab Lifetime Achievement
H.E. Obaid Khalifa Kaber Al Marri
Chairmam - Al Jaber Group |
The ABA ME has set a differentiator in the award process wherein the
public have been a clear and definite participative audience. The
debut award year has had a phenomenal 200,000 registrations that
have played an active part in nominating the business leaders of
their choice in the six public polling categories. While the Grand
Jury finalized the 3 nominees in each of the six categories, the
public once again were imperative in the choice of winners. Two
avenues that were instrumental in this process were the online
voting and the SMS route that proved to be a winning combination,
providing a wide spectrum of voters to participate.”
The awards process this year had some of the most prominent and well
informed business personalities of the region on the Grand Jury
panel. These include
Michael J Stevenson
Senior Partner Middle East Region, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Abdulaziz Sager
Chairman, Gulf Research Centre, and President of Sager Group
Holding in Saudi Arabia
Alexander John Andrakis
Executive Director, Sales & Marketing, Emaar Properties
Sultan Saoud Al Qassemi
Managing Director of the Al-Qassemi group of companies and
Chairman of Barjeel Securities
Dr. Fatima Saeed Al-Shamsi
Secretary General, UAE University, Al Ain
PricewaterhouseCoopers is the independent analyst who brought
in their objectivity and integrity that are strongly associated with
the voting and assessment process from the time the awards were
announced in September 2007 right into the closing ceremony on
December 8th, 2007.
Against this backdrop, the ABA ME seeks to celebrate the engagement
between the two sides in the past and showcase the potential for the
future, which is loaded with opportunities. Not withstanding the
historic ties, which have been sustained by the current oil, trade,
tourism and expatriate dynamics, the way forward for a stimulating
bilateral relationship rests on developing a paradigm that hinges on
strategic dimensions. The ABA ME aims to serve as a catalyst to
convert this East-East opportunity into a sustainable strategy. |
