UAE - Statesmen, business leaders honoured at ABLF Awards

(MENAFN- Arab News) Shaikh Ahmed receiving the accolade and posing with other winners at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards in Dubai. - KT photos by Grace Guino Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman of Emirates airline and Chief Executive of the Emirates Group; and Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, were among the key recipients of awards at the third edition of the Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Awards held in Dubai. While Shaikh Ahmed won the ABLF Global Asian accolade, the ABLF Statesman Award was bestowed on Shaikh Khalifa, the longest-serving incumbent prime minister in the world. Rajiv Luthra, who is a legend in Indian corporate law, was presented with the ABLF Business Excellence Award € Legal. William E. Heinecke, an awardee from Southeast Asia who is the driving force behind the leading global brands under the Minor International umbrella, received the ABLF Trailblazer accolade. Khalil Abdullah Al Khonji, chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of the GCC Chambers, was hailed as the ABLF Ambassador of Commerce, while SingTel Group's CEO, Chua Sock Koong, was the evening's ABLF Woman of Power. Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson and editorial director of HT Media, presented the accolade. Other Asian leaders including Dr R. Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, and Shaikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, chairman of the board of directors of Doha Bank, were also felicitated at the event. The ABLF Awards 2013 also turned the spotlight on India's respected cardiologist and entrepreneur Dr Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group. The event also saw the launch of Dr Reddy's biography, The Healer: Dr Prathap Chandra Reddy and the Transformation of India's Health Care, written by columnist Pranay Gupte. The 2013 edition of the ABLF Awards also focused on India and its status as the UAE's most prominent trading partner. The India-UAE Showcase at the event felicitated six leading Indian and Emirati business icons. Leaders who presented keynotes at the showcase included Kamal Nath, India's Minister of Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs. "Our actions and decisions today will dictate tomorrow's global economy, and what today represents our vast youth capital, will tomorrow commandeer the world's outlook. In view of this, cultivating and promoting a progressive, nurturing environment for entrepreneurship in Asia is paramount. And without a sturdily architected, well-rounded knowledge economy, the region will lose the vitality it has worked so hard to develop," Nath said. The India-UAE Showcase felicitated stalwart leaders, including Abdullah Mohammed Saleh, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre; Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, chairman of the Al Habtoor Group; Shaikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; M.A. Yusuff Ali, managing director of the Emke (Lulu) Group; Dr B.R. Shetty and Capt C.P. Krishnan Nair, founder and chairman emeritus of India's Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. Other notable and important delegates in attendance at the event included Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy; T.K.A. Nair, advisor to the prime minister of India; Remi Rownhani, director-general of the Qatar Chamber; Mohamed Muhairy, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Chamber; Baba Kalyani, chairman of Bharat Forge; and Dr Amer Rawas, CEO of Omantel.