Singapore (November 11, 2008) /ChinaNewswire.com/ — Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia will present the awards to five winners and 10 excellence awardees at the 7th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in Singapore on November 21, 2008 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

Singapore – November 7, 2008 - 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 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.

The Asian CSR Awards is recognized as the leading awards program on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia and is an inherent component of the annual, regional Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR) conference and Expo. AFCSR 2008 is co-presented 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 are Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr., 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.

The Guest of Honor to present the awards is Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia. A winner and the excellence awardees in each of the five categories will be announced.

A complete list of the 2008 Asian CSR Awards finalists follows:
List of 2008 Finalists (Project, Company and Country)

Category: Environmental Excellence
Finalists:
1. "1ºC Up" Pilot Campaign, City Developments Ltd., Singapore
2. BOOND, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., India
3. Water Recycling and Silt Water Treatment Programme at Construction Sites, City Developments Ltd., Singapore

Category: Support & Improvement of Education
Finalists:
1. Educational Television (ETV), ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, Philippines
2. Satya Bharti School Program, Bharti Foundation, India
3. War On Worms In Western Visayas (Wow-V), Johnson & Johnson Phils., Philippines

Category: Poverty Alleviation
Finalists:
1. Business for Peace Initiative, Federation of Chambers Of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
2. The GoodWell Fund, Philam Foundation, Philippines
3. Zinc Integrated Poverty Alleviation Programme, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., India

Category: Best Workplace Practices
Finalists:
1. CLP Quality Work Life (QWL) Programme, CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong
2. Employee Wellness Program, Microsoft Philippines, Philippines
3. Work-Life Harmony, City Developments Ltd., Singapore

Category: Concern for Health
Finalists:
1. BMC Sky ICU, Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, Thailand
2. Providing Accessibility: Sri Lanka's first state-of-the-art Hearing centre, Dialog Telekom PLC, Sri Lanka
3. War On Worms In Western Visayas (Wow-V), Johnson & Johnson Phils., Philippines

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, China CSR, 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. 

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