The ACES Leadership Award winners have not only achieved extraordinary success in business but have also contributed significantly to the communities and industries they serve.
BANGKOK, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This year's ACES Leadership Award winners showcased outstanding business leadership and corporate excellence, highlighting visionary strategies, exceptional business acumen, and an unwavering commitment to driving growth, innovation, and transformative impact within their industries across Asia.
Recognising Leadership Excellence: 59 outstanding business leaders and enterprises were awarded for their exemplary leadership, at the ACES Awards 2024, setting new benchmarks in innovation, governance, and corporate responsibility.
The awards also aimed to spotlight leaders who have not only achieved extraordinary success in business but have also contributed significantly to the communities and industries they serve.
Marking its 11th edition this year, the ACES awards was for the first time held for two days: November 14th to honor sustainability award winners and November 15th to dedicate to leadership award winners.
Speaking at the ACES Awards ceremony, Shanggari B, CEO of MORS Group and President of the ACES Awards and ACES Council highlighted the critical need for businesses to align sustainability and leadership with a powerful call to action.
"Last night, we celebrated 34 champions of sustainability who are tackling some of the most urgent challenges of our time. However, the road ahead remains daunting—global carbon emissions have surged over 60% in the past decade, with Asia contributing more than half. Alarmingly, 80% of CSR funds in Asia are underutilised, often misaligned with core business strategies, wasting resources that could drive real impact. The urgency of integrating ESG into leadership has never been clearer. At ACES, we go beyond recognising excellence; we partner with businesses to drive meaningful, lasting change, ensuring every step toward sustainability is both impactful and celebrated."
Organized by the MORS Group in collaboration with their strategic partners, ACES 2024 received an overwhelming number of 682 nominations from the melting pot of Asian businesses vying for a mention at the Awards.
The submissions were from 41 industries spanning across 17 countries, which was a testimony to the positive reach of the ACES.
After an expansive, thorough, and unbiased review process, there emerged 250 finalists across 31 categories from Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal.
A total of 59 leadership award winners were honored on Day Two of the ACES awards ceremony.
"True leadership goes beyond titles or accolades; it is about using one's influence to create meaningful change. It is about standing up for what is right, even when it is difficult," said Hemant Batra, Honorary Chairman of the ACES Awards.
Topping the list of winners was the Philippines, with among others, Michael O. De Jesus, President and Chief Executive Officer of Development Bank of The Philippines and Romulo I. Delos Reyes, Jr., President & General Manager of Stronghold Insurance Company, Inc., both being named Outstanding Leaders in Asia, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. and GCash taking home the Industry Champions of the Year Award, iSupport WorldWide clinching Asia's Most Inspiring Executives Award and the Eminent Leaders in Asia Award going to Jeffrey Lim who is President of SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
From Malaysia was Dato' Idzham Mohd Hashim, President and CEO of Iskandar Investment Berhad who was named one of Asia's Most Admirable Young Leaders and the Asia's Most Promising SMEs award went to Melaka ICT Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Also winning the Asia's Leading SMEs award was Singapore's Cyclect Facilities Management Pte Ltd while Zach Wilson who is CEO of Alfatech Asia in Singapore was named one of the Outstanding Leaders in Asia.
Dazzling the night was also Thailand's Nalinee Paiboon, President of Giffarine Skyline Unity Co., Ltd and Sara Lamsam, Chief Executive Officer of Muang Thai Life Assurance Pcl who both walked away with the Outstanding Leaders in Asia Award while Industry Champions of The Year went to Medeze Group Public Company Limited.
Some of the prominent names leading the winners list from Indonesia included MyRepublic (PT. Eka Mas Republik) which won Asia's Best Performing Companies while Asia's Most Promising SMEs Award went to Tanamera Coffee Indonesia. The Republic's Modinity Group (Buttonscarves) won Asia's Best Performing Companies.
Business leaders from Brunei also took centre stage with among them, Francis Lau Choo Yew who is Managing Director & Founder of LCY Development Sdn Bhd being named one of the Outstanding Leaders in Asia and Asia's Most Promising SMEs award going to Network Integrity Assurance Technologies (Niat) Sdn Bhd and Timorese Manpower.
Among the prominent winners from Hong Kong was Belinda Au who is President Of Hong Kong And Head of North Asia Chubb Life Insurance Hong Kong Limited who was honored with Asia's Most Inspiring Executives Award.
Through the ACES Awards, companies and leaders unite to not only showcase their leadership achievements but also to engage in knowledge sharing, build valuable networks, and explore forward-thinking ideas that promote business stewardship and exceptional leadership throughout Asia.
This effort was exemplified in the ACES Leadership Summit 2024 which was held earlier in the day on November 15th.
This unique summit delved into ancient military, philosophical, and cultural strategies -from Sun Tzu's The Art of War to the leadership principles of Roman emperors and Greek philosophers - and examined how these time-tested approaches can be applied to modern business challenges.
"It is for corporate leaders to master Sun Tzu's insights into strategy, leadership, and conflict resolution which remains relevant across diverse fields, from military tactics to business management," said Gerald Kong who is founder, expert trainer for corporate leaders and best-selling author.
"If Sun Tzu had been a CEO, would he have applied the same tactics to his business that he did to his armies?" quipped Kong who spent the last 16 years to study, practice and apply Sun Tzu's Art of War in different areas of business.
In welcoming the delegates to the ACES Awards 2024, Kong said the leadership summit was aimed at getting everyone to understand each other, to discuss using the framework from Sun Tzu and how this can be applied to achieve sustainability goals.