A total of 64 projects and business leaders across Asia were selected as recipients of Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2019, which was an increase of 19% from last year. Regarded as the top corporate social responsibility (CSR) awards in Asia, this year’s ceremony was organized in Taipei, after being held in Macau, Singapore, Bangkok, and Manila previously.
Organized by Enterprise Asia, the leading non-governmental organization for responsible entrepreneurship in Asia, the AREA aims to recognize and honor Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially responsible business practices. With the categories of Social Empowerment, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Green Leadership, Corporate Governance, and Responsible Business Leadership. The categories look beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in incorporating the role of the government and the civil society in powering meaningful changes to the world, with the corporate community as the enabler and catalyst for this change.
Over 300 attendees were present at the by-invitation only event, comprising of industry leaders and leading CSR practitioners. Some of the dignitaries who graced the event include Mr. Chang San-cheng, former premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan); Mr. Jonathan Chen, vice mayor of New Taipei City; Tan Sri Dr. Fong Chan Onn, chairman of Enterprise Asia; Dr. Eugene Chien, Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of China (Taiwan), former minister of foreign affairs and minister of environment of the Republic of China (Taiwan); and Dato’ William Ng, president of Enterprise Asia.
According to Mr. Ng, “Over the past decade CSR has evolved to creating shared values, which is based on the idea that companies can simultaneously increase profits and enhance competitiveness by reframing their corporate objectives to solve societal problems.”
He adds, “Apart from recognizing the outstanding ideas for sustainability, we aim to celebrate their important contribution, and encourage the institutionalization of sustainability. When sustainability, doing good and social change become part of our corporate DNA – they become permanent and not a subset of our profit and loss statement – but the reason for it. We hope to ensure CSR efforts are directed to the right areas following the judging parameters of effectiveness, relevance, impact, integration, and sustainability. This is in line with Enterprise Asia’s founding pillars of Responsible Entrepreneurship and Investment in People.”
This year, over 200 submissions from 16 countries were received from companies across Asia, with judges led by Dr. Chien, sieving through the submission over a three-month judging period.
According to Dr Chien, “The panel of judges were impressed by the quality and diversity of submissions this year and had the challenging task of evaluating and determining this year’s finalists. This is a far cry from when we first started giving out the awards in year 2009. Besides being able to demonstrate the design and execution of sound and effective CSR programs, much thought has been given to its impact and measurability.”
He adds, “This year, over 35% of the winners emerged from Taiwan, overtaking Thailand, which has been taking the lead in the number of winning entries over the past few years. This demonstrates the expertise and capability of the CSR practitioners in Taiwan and we congratulate them on their commitment in achieving the SDGs.”
Among the notable winning projects were “Less Carbon, Better Life” by Pacific SOGO Department Stores which instilled environment protection awareness by integrating its stakeholders to jointly create a green department store; and “Financial Education Program for Public Schools in the Philippines” by BDO Foundation, which raised the financial literacy of 24 million students in more than 47,000 public schools across the Philippines.
Mr. Ng concludes, “To date, our Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards has seen over 200 successful CSR projects being highlighted, with millions of communities uplifted and billions of lives touched and saved. Many of these projects has also served as a benchmark to other companies. Quite a few CSR departments and regional initiatives are now modelled after our categories and judging methodology, and we are quite happy to have played our part in drawing the direction for CSR across Asia.”
The AREA 2019 was supported by Official Local Partner – Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy; Official PR Partner – Fides Corporate Sustainability; Sponsor – Zero Emission Venture; Supporting Organizations – AmCham Taipei; British Chamber of Commerce; Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association; Circular Economy Club; CSRone; European Chamber of Commerce; Green Trade Project Office, Taiwan External Trade Development Council; Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, Malaysia; Taiwan Corporate Governance Association; Official News Release Distribution Partner – PR Newswire; and Official Media Partners – BusinessWorld; Commercial Times; SME Magazine; The Nation; Singapore Business Review and Tuoi Tre News.
Recipient List of the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards 2019
Responsible Business Leadership
1. JOSEPH HUANG, CEO of E.SUN FINANCIAL HOLDING CO., LTD. (Taiwan)
Social Empowerment
1. AISECT (India) – AISECT Multipurpose IT Centre Model
2. APPLE DAILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (Hong Kong) – Apple Bursaries
Scheme
3. BANK RAKYAT (Malaysia) – Autism #Anakkita (Our kids)
4. BDO FOUNDATION, INC. (Philippines) – Financial Education Programme For
Public Schools in the Philippines
5. BE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING SDN BHD (Malaysia) – Transforming the Lives
of Children in Vietnam, Myanmar & Malaysia
6. BEIJING ORIENTAL YUHONG WATERPROOF TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (China)
– Shanghai Aihao Children Rehabilitation Center
7. CHINA MENGNIU DAIRY COMPANY LIMITED (China) – Mengniu Nutrition for All
Programme
8. CTBC FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE (Taiwan) – Love & Arts for
Dreams Initiatives Project
9. ELUSYF GLOBAL PTE LTD (Singapore) – Silver Screening 2-For-1
10. ENGRO FERTILIZERS LIMITED (Pakistan) – PAVE (Partnership and Value
Expansion) for Inclusive Seed Systems in Pakistan
11. FAR EASTERN BIG CITY SHOPPING MALLS CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Co-hosting 8th
Vocal Asia Festival with Kehua Foundation to Realise Big City’s Vision of Promoting
with Profound Impact the Preservation of Taiwan’s Native Culture and Hakka Folk
Songs
12. FUBON LIFE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Guarding the Demented Patients
and their Families, and Promoting the Concept of Having Young People Accompany
Elders
13. GOVERNMENT SAVINGS BANK (Thailand) – GSB SMART Homestay
14. GRABTAXI HOLDINGS PTE LTD (Singapore) – Sustainable Urban Mobility
Initiative for All (SUMAI)
15. IRPC PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – New Steps For New Life
16. KING POWER INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. (Thailand) – King Power Thai Power
17. NAGAWORLD LIMITED (Cambodia) – Football Development Programme in
Kampong Speu
18. PEPSI-COLA PRODUCTS PHILIPPINES, INC. (Philippines) – Water For Peace in
Marawi
19. PLANET TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION (Taiwan) – Educational Programme for
the Disadvantaged Children
20. PT BADAK NGL (Indonesia) – Selangan City
21. PT JAPFA COMFEED INDONESIA TBK (Indonesia) – JAPFA SiRepi Waste Bank
22. PT PEMBANGKITAN JAWA-BALI (Indonesia) – Bawean Eco Edu Tourism
23. PT PUPUK KALTIM (Indonesia) – Better Living in Malahing
24. PTT EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand)
– Crab Hatchery Learning Center Project
25. REDTONE INTERNATIONAL BERHAD (Malaysia) – REDtone Kuala Lumpur
International Junior Open Squash Championship
26. REIJU CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Charity Express, Happiness Care
27. SAB KA MANGAL HO FOUNDATION (India) – Yoga Training at Orphanages
28. SHIN KONG LIFE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Create Shared Value with
Sustainable Thinking
29. SINO OCEAN HOLDING GROUP (China) – Little Friends Education Sponsorship
Scheme
30. SINOPAC FINANCIAL HOLDINGS COMPANY LIMITED (Taiwan) – Keeping the
Face to the Sunshine
31. TAIWAN LIFE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Taiwan’s New Era in Aging
32. THAI LIFE INSURANCE PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – Sharing
Kindness By Thai Life Insurance People
33. VINCOMMERCE GENERAL COMMERCIAL SERVICES JSC (Vietnam) –
Accompanying, Supporting and Promoting Vietnamese Production
Investment In People
1. ACBEL POLYTECH INC. (Taiwan) – We Strive to Uphold a Quality Joyous Work
Environment
2. AP (THAILAND) PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – Navigating Happiness
3. BAXTER HEALTHCARE LTD (Taiwan) – Baxter is Making a Difference in our
Communities
4. CTBC FINANCIAL HOLDING CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – CTBC Human Capital
Comprehensive Enhancement Plan
5. DÖHLE SEAFRONT CREWING (MANILA) INC. (Philippines) – Dohle Seafront
Family Programme
6. MGM CHINA HOLDINGS LIMITED (Macau) – Making Great Moments
7. PROVINCIAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY (Thailand) – 1 Tambon 1 Electrician
8. TAISHIN FINANCIAL HOLDING CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Dual Mentoring Programme
9. TAIWAN POWER COMPANY (Taiwan) – Building the Soft and Hard Capacity for
Professionals in the Power Industry
Health Promotion
1. AIA COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – AIA Sharing A Life Charity Run
2. JEBSEN GROUP (Hong Kong) – Project Morning Star – National Model of
Comprehensive Rural Eye Care Network Building Project
3. KBZ BANK (Myanmar) – KBZ Bank’s Cleft Mission with Smile Asia
4. METROPOLITAN WATERWORKS AUTHORITY (MWA) (Thailand) – School Tap
Water System Project
5. NAN SHAN LIFE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Nan Shan Charity Fund for
Community Health Care Programme
6. PT JAPFA COMFEED INDONESIA TBK (Indonesia) – JAPFA for Kids-Healthy
Food Ambassadors
7. SIAM FRESH ENTERPRISE CO., LTD (Thailand) – The Boss Run for Sharing
Green Leadership
1. ASIA CEMENT CORPORATION (Taiwan) – Deeply Rooting the Seeds of
Sustainable Hope – Asia Cement Eco-Environment Education Project
2. BETTER WORLD GREEN PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – Green Energy
From Industrial Waste
3. CELCOM AXIATA BERHAD (Malaysia) – Tasik Chini Empowered-Harmonising
Digital Inclusion and Sustainability
4. GLOBAL POWER SYNERGY PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (Thailand) – The Zero
Waste Village Project
5. MALAYSIA AIRPORTS HOLDINGS BERHAD (Malaysia) – klia2: “Embracing
Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Aviation”
6. NICE GARDEN INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Sustainable Agri-Food
Practitioner – NEXTLAND
7. PACIFIC SOGO DEPARTMENT STORES CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Less Carbon,
Better Life
8. PT HM SAMPOERNA TBK (Indonesia) – Carbon Footprint Management in Finished
Goods Transportation
9. TAIWAN CEMENT CORPORATION (Taiwan) – Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Green
10. TAIWAN COGENERATION CORPORATION (Taiwan) – Dedication to Circular
Economy, Low-carbon Emission, and Energy Sustainability
Corporate Governance
1. CATHAY FINANCIAL HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Sustainable Governance
2. CTBC FINANCIAL HOLDING CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – CTBC Financial Holding
Sustainable Governance Programme
3. E.SUN FINANCIAL HOLDING CO., LTD. (Taiwan) – Solid Corporate Governance
Led by Professional Managers
4. METROPOLITAN WATERWORKS AUTHORITY (MWA) (Thailand) – MWA
Corporate Governance Council
