The region’s leading NGO Enterprise Asia is pleased to confer the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2022 to 72 outstanding award recipients for championing ESG to build a resilient world and a sustainable future for all.
Widely regarded as the gold standard for CSR and sustainability practice, the AREA is the most prominent CSR recognition program across Asia initiated by Enterprise Asia. The AREA aims to recognize and honor Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially responsible business practices.
Richard Tsang, president of Enterprise Asia, stated in his welcome speech, “The pandemic has catalyzed our growth as people and as a society, and this is only the beginning of a much greater transformation. Through collaboration and partnership, we can deliver the required investments and actions to accelerate progress in social, environmental, and economic sectors.”
According to Dr Eugene Chien, Chairman of the AREA Judging Committee, “I am proud that many of the participants this year have strived to adopt this practice as well as manage the continuance of their CSR initiatives and evolve them into larger ventures. This results in projects that are more sustainable, of greater relevance to the target community, and create a meaningful positive change in society.”
Since 2011, the AREA has been recognizing businesses from various industries while honoring their achievements in the categories of Social Empowerment, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Green Leadership, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership, Responsible Business Leadership, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting. This year, a total of 260 submissions across 19 countries have undergone a stringent judging process which is based on the 3 criterion of effectiveness and reach, relevance, and sustainability, and only 100 impactful CSR programs and 3 business leaders were accorded as winners.
The recipients of the Responsible Business Leadership Category which recognizes leaders who are strong advocates for responsible entrepreneurship and at the forefront of promoting sustainable practices and in promoting the sustainability agenda within their organizations and their communities include Tsai Hong-Tu, chairman of Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and Joseph Huang, chairman of E.SUN Commercial Bank Ltd, from Taiwan, and Dr. Jacques Marcille, managing director of Kulara Water Co., Ltd. From Cambodia.
Other notable award recipients are CPC Corporation Taiwan under the Green Leadership category with its program “Take the First Step Towards Carbon Neutrality in the Energy Industry”; Far Eastern New Century Corporation under the Circular Economy Leadership category with its “Green Growth through Circular Economy” program; KWG Living Group Holdings Limited of China, Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad of Malaysia and AUO Corporation of Taiwan under the Corporate Governance category; Government Housing Bank of Thailand, and SinoPac Holdings under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting category; PT Pupuk Kujang of Indonesia and LEO Global Logistics Public Company Limited of Thailand under the Social Empowerment category.
Four Philippines companies emerged as winners of the AREA 2022 which include Energy Development Corporation under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting category; Watsons Personal Care Stores (Philippines), Inc. under the Green Leadership category; UHS Essential Health Philippines, Inc. under the Investment In People category; and SM Investments Corporation under the Corporate Governance category.
The AREA 2022 is supported by CSRone, the Global Reporting Initiative, India CSR Network, Malaysian Business Council of Cambodia (MBCC), Malaysia Green Technology and Climate Change Corp. (MGTC), National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (NIEI), Singapore-Thai Chamber of Commerce, and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), with Bangkok Post, BusinessWorld, Commercial Times, Hong Kong Economic Times, Kumparan, and SME Magazine as media partners, and Evogenetic Studio as the Official Production Partner.
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