Telecommunications companies PT XL Axiata and PT Telkomsel, as well as PT Unilever Indonesia each won awards in the event'€™s sustainability category. XL Axiata received an award for Top Community Care Companies in Asia, while Telkomsel received an award for the Top Companies to Work for in Asia. PT Unilever Indonesia won an award for Top CSR Advocates in Asia.

In response to being named a Top Company to Work for in Asia, Telkomsel director of planning and transformation Edward Ying said that part of the company'€™s success could be linked to the company'€™s mindset of developing its employees so that they were prepared for systematic changes.

'€œWe have a great people-development program currently active and from what I know, employees have been responding enthusiastically. The development program is a long term and systematic one where we focus on providing scholarships or send employees to international management-training schools. People like working for a company if they see the chance to develop themselves,'€ Ying told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday on the sidelines of the awards ceremony.

The systematic changes that Ying referred to included Telkomsel'€™s current efforts to establish 4G connection in Indonesia by the end of the year, which he said required workers with harnessed skills and continual training in order to develop.

Meanwhile, commenting on his company'€™s award, XL Axiata chief financial officer Mohamed Adlan said that the company had been focusing on education and community development in rural areas as their social programs, with the aim of strengthening telecommunications infrastructure there.

He explained that their consideration for the award laid more in the company'€™s community-outreach programs and its sustainability.

'€œOur campaign involves providing telecommunications solutions in rural areas such as mobile banking and surveillance to help local businesses as well as providing the technical know-how,'€ Adlan told the Post.

The three companies were up against various companies from the Asia-Pacific region that have demonstrated perceived excellence in sustainability and leadership practices, among those were the United Overseas Bank (UOB) Ltd, Great Eastern Life Assurance, and Starhub Limited.

Other awards in the Sustainability category were those given for the Green Company of the Year, which was won by Thailand'€™s TetraPak Ltd, and the Most Socially Responsible Company in Asia, which was won by Philippine power-supply company Manila Electric for their efforts to distribute electricity across underprivileged areas in the Philippines.

Individual businesspeople, including managing directors, company founders and chief executive officers (CEOs) were also honored at the awards, as awards were given for the Top Outstanding Leaders of Asia, Top SMEs in Asia, as well as Entrepreneur of the Year.

Super Bean International founder Kang Puay Seng won the Entrepreneur of the Year award, while the founder of clothing company British India, Pat Liew, won the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.

Earlier, the CEO of the award'€™s primary organizer MORS Group, Shanggari Balakrishnan, explained that the criteria for the leadership category included not just how much sales turnover a company achieved, but also through looking at how they drove their companies to contribute something back.

There were a total of 120 companies initially nominated for the awards from all over the Asia-Pacific region.

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