Tun Abdullah received the ABLF Statesman Award at the Asian Business Leadership Forum 2016 Award
The 7th Grand Edition of ABLF Awards 2016 was held at a well-attended event at the Palazzo Versace Dubai on 12 November, 2016. Some of the UAE’s biggest leaders joined a distinguished audience of Asian leaders from countries around the world including Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, China, UK, and the US to celebrate sustainable leadership and enduring excellence at the Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Awards 2016. The ABLF Awards, held in association with the UAE Ministry of Economy, recognized 14 global leaders for their exceptional leadership in Asia. They were felicitated by UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and the Royal Patron of the Awards Ceremony since 2007, HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.
The opening address by HE Kamal Nath, Former Union Cabinet Minister, Government of India, introduced the theme for the ABLF 2016, “Heroes of the Innovation Economy” and spoke about how the real heroes are the disruptors. “Disruptors constantly create new economic realities. A start-up with a supporting venture capitalist and a great idea can potentially bring a giant corporation to its knees, to make its business model obsolete in a matter of weeks,” he said.
HE Sheikh Nahyan said in his Keynote Address that the theme of the 7th Edition of the ABLF was a sign of the changing perspectives on gender equality, a subject that is greatly promoted in the UAE where women hold over 66% of jobs in the UAE’s government sector. “The use of the word heroes signals that the ABLF operates in the twenty-first century. Not long ago, a female hero would have been called a heroine, a word that too often implies something somewhat different from and less than the male hero. Today, however, enlightened, realistic, and fair-minded people recognize heroes for their actions, not their gender. Our global economy needs and, as the ABLF knows, has heroes - both women and men — who share exactly the same heroic attributes.”
His Excellency added, “Heroes by definition exhibit extraordinary bravery, firmness, fortitude, and greatness of soul in their pursuits, their work, and their enterprises… The global economy of the twenty-first century demands innovation. An ever-changing environment challenges business to respond. All of you heroes assembled here tonight have responded successfully to that demand.”
Award winners at the ABLF 2016 included dignitaries from different schools of thought, regions and industries, across the spectrum of business, government, banking, finance, media, infrastructure and society:
• THE ABLF SOCIAL INFLUENCER AWARD, HE Dr Maitha bint Salem Al Shamsi, Minister of State UAE, Irene Natividad, President, Global Summit of Women, US
• THE ABLF GLOBAL ASIAN AWARD, HE Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Group CEO and Managing Director, Mubadala
• THE ABLF RISING STAR AWARD, HE Eng. Mohamed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy, UAE
• THE ABLF TRAILBLAZER AWARD, HE Mona Al Marri, Director General, Government of Dubai Media Office, UAE
• THE ABLF BUSINESS INNOVATOR AWARD, Dr Amina Al Rustamani, Group Chief Executive Officer, TECOM Group, UAE
• THE ABLF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD, Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Emirates NBD, UAE
• THE ABLF AMBASSADOR OF COMMERCE AWARD, Fahad Al Gergawi, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), UAE
• THE ABLF STATESMAN AWARD, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Former Prime Minister, Malaysia
• THE ABLF BUSINESS ECONOMIST AWARD, Lord Meghnad Desai, Emeritus Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
• THE ABLF OUTSTANDING BUSINESS ACHIEVER AWARD, Yu Tao, Chief Executive Officer and President, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East) (L.L.C.), UAE
• THE ABLF BUSINESS COURAGE AWARD, Yogesh Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Petrochem Middle East FZE, UAE
• THE ABLF OUTSTANDING BUSINESS CITIZEN AWARD, Prakash P. Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group (Europe), Switzerland
• THE ABLF LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, Sri Prakash Lohia, Group Chairman, Indorama Corporation, Singapore
The ABLF Awards concluded with great leaders, including ABLF Alumni, Grand Jury Members, representatives from partners Senaat, NPCC and Masdar, coming together on the ABLF Stage with Sheikh Nahyan, in a grand celebratory cake cutting ceremony. Also, announced was the date for the upcoming eighth edition – 6 May 2017.
Consulate General of Malaysia
15 November 2016
