Business leaders go places with Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) 2019

Bangkok. The Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards 2019 (ACES) has set new benchmarks for leadership and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in businesses across the Asian continent for the sixth year running.

The ACES is an awards program which recognizes services and achievements of businesses, both large and small, national and international, for outstanding contributions to their communities and the world.

Held on September 20 at the Plaza Athénée, a Luxury Collection Hotel, in Bangkok, Thailand, ACES 2019 was a night of glitter, glitz, and glam juxtaposed against a backdrop of conscious business and societally-driven business practices. Delegates from 11 Asian countries flew in for the black-tie event to be part of the positive wave of socially aware business ideology which is seeing an awakening in Asia.

Winners from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Pakistan and Hong Kong were treated to a feast of the senses at the venue, which is the first hotel in the world to receive ISO 20121 accreditation for Sustainability Event Management Systems for the planning and delivery of sustainable meetings and events.

Chief Executive of MORS Group, Shanggari B, said of the choice of venue, “As organizers of an Awards which focuses so intensely on the environmental aspect of CSR, the choice of Plaza Athénée was inevitable when we named Thailand as our Awards destination this year. ISO 20121 is a sustainability event management system designed to help event organizers improve the sustainability of our activities while creating a more eco-conscious environment. Plaza Athénée has managed to deliver a breathtaking gala function in a bespoke setting, with all required equipment, plus a stunning sit-down dinner which will undoubtedly set a very high bar for our next event.”

The Luxury Collection Hotel, located on Wireless Road, in the heart of Bangkok’s embassy row, is an elegant and captivating ode to Thai culture. Plaza Athénée stands on the site of Kandhavas, the royal palace of HRH Princess Valaya Alongkorn, daughter of King Rama V. The hotel infuses 19th century European and Asian décor along with a collection of exciting and original restaurants, a sumptuous spa and a rooftop swimming pool in a garden setting.

The Gala Dinner saw corporate leaders from eight countries being lauded for exceptional leadership and management abilities under the Leadership category of the ACES. The Philippines fielded the highest number of outstanding business leaders, numbering 15, followed by Malaysia with 14, Thailand with eight and Singapore, five. There were thirty-one nominees in the Sustainability category, with Thailand leading by eight, the Philippines with seven, Indonesia and Singapore fielding four nominees each, and three Sri Lankan and Malaysian companies in the mix.

Conceptualized, established and organized by the MORS Group, the ACES is a one-of-a-kind platform which champions resilient, sustainable and responsible business growth in Asia. More than just gratuitous backslapping, the ACES was designed to build a platform for business leaders and their companies to learn, build connections across industries, and exchange ideas on best practices and the ethics of good business building.

MORS Group’s mission is to assist companies, corporate leaders, and eminent industrialists to share a platform to exhibit leadership and sustainability excellence, to learn from market experts across the world, to engage stakeholders and employees invaluable ways, and to embrace a culture of progressive learning.

“The old days of divide and conquer are passing. Market domination in business is no longer an end game these days. More socially responsible ways of thinking; corporate leaders who have developed an ecological conscience, and newer, more environmentally positive ways of doing business have resulted in a sea change in the way companies and corporations are run. This year we have seen companies up their CSR games admirably. No longer is giving back to society something which is done vis-à-vis. Social consciousness now has a place in the strategic structure of businesses, and forward-thinking leaders are using these social and environmentally driven strategies as an effective linchpin to their businesses,” said Hemant K Batra, Chairman of the Jury Panel of ACES Awards.

The effects of an ACES Award are long-lasting and far-reaching. The nomination and review process helps companies refine internal control systems, and further redefine their strategic approaches to staffing and manpower challenges, as well as their interaction and involvement with the communities in which they do business with. An ACES Awards audit has many times become a catalyst for a company’s desire to do better, which is why there are often returning nominees or winners to the Awards.

“As an Awards program, the ACES doesn’t merely honor achievers. Our audit process provides a strong, dependable, scalable checklist for companies who desire to keep improving. These are the companies who return to the ACES the following year to have their processes re-evaluated by our jury, in efforts to go from strength to strength,” said Shanggari.

The ACES Awards Gala Night enables industry pacesetters to meet and mingle in a convivial setting. This helps natural inclinations towards business friendships to be born, in the hopes of greater future collaboration or support. While most award programs stop at the gala, the MORS Group has planned a series of programs organized across Asia in progressing phases, which will focus on understanding the potential of Asia as a place to do business and the instruments which may aid in boosting Asia’s business prominence.