Announcing the Winners of the Asian CSR Awards Asia's foremost CSR Awards programme

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia presented the awards to 5 winners and 10 excellence awardees at the recently concluded 7th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in Singapore.

Singapore (November 24, 2008) /ChinaNewswire.com/ — Five companies from India, Philippines and Sri Lanka were recognized this evening for their outstanding initiatives in corporate social responsibility.

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia gave away the awards to the winners this evening.

The Asian CSR Awards, co-presented this year by Intel, is Asia's premier Awards program on corporate social responsibility. This year's awards attracted 170 entries representing 120 companies from 15 countries. It recognizes and honors companies in Asia for their projects and programs in corporate social responsibility. The annual Awards are given in five categories: Best Workplace Practices, Concern for Health, Environmental Excellence, Poverty Alleviation and Support and Improvement of Education. There is an exhaustive search and selection process for the Awards that include the generation of entries, initial screening, and short listing by a panel of experts and final judging.

A complete list of the 2008 Asian CSR Awards Winners and Excellence Awardees follows:
List of 2008 Winners and Excellence Awardees by Category
(Company, Project and Country)

Best Workplace Practices
Winner: Microsoft Philippines, Employee Wellness Program, Philippines
Excellence Awardees:
City Developments Ltd, Work-Life Harmony, Singapore
CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd., CLP Quality Work Life (QWL) Programme, Hong Kong

Concern for Health
Winner: Johnson & Johnson Philippines, War on Worms in Western Visayas (WOW-V), Philippines
Excellence Awardees:
Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, BMC Sky ICU, Thailand
Dialog Telekom PLC, Providing Accessibility: Sri Lanka's first state-of-the-art Hearing centre, Sri Lanka

Environmental Excellence
Winner: Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. BOOND India
Excellence Awardees:
City Developments Ltd., "1-degree C Up" Pilot Campaign, Singapore
City Developments Ltd., Water Recycling and Silt Water Treatment Programme at Construction Sites, Singapore

Poverty Alleviation
Winner: Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Business for Peace Initiative, Sri Lanka
Excellence Awardees:
Philam Foundation, The GoodWell Fund, Philippines
Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Zinc Integrated Poverty Alleviation Programme, India

Support and Improvement of Education
Winner: Bharti Foundation, Satya Bharti School Program, India
Excellence Awardees:
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, Educational Television (ETV), Philippines
Johnson & Johnson Phils., War On Worms In Western Visayas (Wow-V), Philippines

The INTEL-AIM Corporate Responsibility Award (IACRA) honors specific companies, NGOs, organizations in Asia for excellent CSR projects in one or more of the following areas: Education, Community Involvement, Environmental Stewardship and Poverty Alleviation through providing innovative use of ICT. The winner is Shakarganj Mills Ltd. with NTPC Ltd. as the excellence awardee.

The Banyan Tree Value Challenge is an opportunity for eligible NGOs to get additional funding by making a competitive presentation of a CSR project or program. This year's winner is Tulir Centre for Prevention (India) and the runner up is Center for Health, Education, Training and Nutritional Awareness (CHETNA).

A Special Achievement Award was given to Singapore Compact for Corporate Social Responsibility for their outstanding CSR contribution and the Award was received by Ms. Claire Chiang, President of Singapore Compact for CSR.

More than 480 delegates from 30 countries attended the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR) 2008 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore on November 20 & 21, 2008.

Recognized as the largest and most significant conference and awards program on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia, AFCSR 2008 was co-organized by the Asian Institute of Management's RVR Center for Corporate Social Responsibility (AIM-RVR Center) and Singapore Compact for CSR. Co-chairing the event were Ramon R. del Rosario, President and CEO of Philippine Investment-Management (PHINMA), Inc., Mr. Boon Yoon Chiang, Chairman and Managing Director, Jardine Matheson (Singapore) and Ms. Claire Chiang, President of Singapore Compact for CSR and Senior Vice President of Banyan Tree Holdings Limited. The organizing committee is composed of representatives from major sponsors, regional NGOs, International organizations and CSR organizations.

AFCSR 2008 indeed has the support of distinguished sponsors including Intel as co-presenter of Asian CSR Awards and Official Technology Partner; Microsoft, Shell, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever as Strategic Corporate Partners; Ballarpur Industries Ltd, Borneo Motors (Singapore) Pte Ltd, City Developments Limited, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Holcim and Standard Chartered Bank as Official Industry Partners, Banyan Tree, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Senoko Power, Starbucks Singapore Pte Ltd. and Tolaram Group as Cooperating Partners and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board. The Official Public Relations Company Partner is Bang Public Relations Pte Ltd with AMEX Team, Creative Crest, Integrated Public Relations, Masso PR and PR Society of Indonesia as Cooperating PR Partners. Official media partners include International Herald Tribune, ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), ACN Newswire, Ammado, Asian Quality Magazine, Asia Weekly, Business Monitor International / Asia Monitor, BusinessWorld, ChinaCSR.com, CSR Asia, Roof and Façade Magazine, Sustainable Innovation, The Employer Magazine, The Training Magazine and XL Media.

AFCSR has 26 leading NGO partners from all over Asia. These are:
Asian Institute of Management Alumni of Singapore
ActionAid International Vietnam
ASEAN Foundation
Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium
Business Ethics Institute of Malaysia
Business in the Community-UK
Center for Development and Integration - Vietnam
Centre for Social Markets - India
Community Business - Hong Kong
Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Council for Better Corporate Citizenship - Japan
German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
Habitat for Humanity International
Indonesia Business Links
Kenan Institute Asia
League of Corporate Foundations - Philippines
Makati Business Club
Management Association of the Philippines
Management Institute for Social Change - Malaysia
National Center for Sustainability Reporting - Indonesia
Philippine Business for Social Progress
Population and Community Development Association of Thailand
Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum
PPM Institute of Management - Indonesia
Responsible Business Initiative - Pakistan
Singapore Compact for CSR

For further information on the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Asian CSR Awards, please visit www.asianforumcsr.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Shawn Pamintuan
  Media Coordinator
  OIC EVENTS
  Tel: (632) 812 6289
  Email: shawnpamintuan@oiceventsasia.com