Singaporean banker named ASEAN Businessman of the Year
Singaporean banker named ASEAN Businessman of the Year
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore banker Wee Chao Yaw has been named the ASEAN Businessman of the Year by the ASEAN Business Forum, a coalition of industry leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Wee, chairman of the United Overseas Bank (UOB) group, received the award from Deputy Premier Lee Hsien Loong at the forum's fourth annual awards ceremony here Friday night.
"Since joining the bank first as director, then as managing director and subsequently as chairman, he has been primarily responsible for the UOB's expansion to what it is today," the award citation read.
The banking group has 80 local branches and 59 overseas branches and offices and is also engaged in property development, hotel management, pharmaceuticals and the leisure industry.
Wee was among 11 individuals from ASEAN honored under the business forum's annual achievement awards program.
Aditya Indradjaja received the architecture award for his contribution to designing low-cost housing in Indonesia.
Ibnu Sutowo, former president of Indonesia's state oil company Pertamina, received an award for community service, while Salleh Mohammed Nor received the environment protection award for his work on rainforest conservation as head of Malaysia's Forest Research Institute.
Syed Jalaluddin of Malaysia received the sciences award for his work in animal nutrition and microbiology and Lucrecia Kasilag of the Philippines was honored for her contribution to the performing arts by developing Filipino music.
Two Singaporeans, A Vijiaratnam (engineering), whose company specializes in maritime works and has been involved in reclamation work for ports and airports, and Jacob Phang (research and development), whose work focuses on developing diagnostic systems for the semiconductor industry, were also honored.
Other award winners were Napoleon Abueva (visual arts), a modernist sculptor from the Philippines, Nara Vaeusorn (medicine), a leading Thai physician, and Ratapong Sirisanont (sports), a top Thai swimmer.