N R Narayana Murthy and Lakshmi N Mittal have been bestowed the Jury Awards for Life Time Achievement and Global Asian of the Year respectively by the first Asian Business Awards Middle East (ABA ME).

Al Barari is the premier sponsors of ABA ME while Indian Expressions and Real Media the event architects and owners.

For the first time, Asian entrepreneurs will be recognised for excellence in business, and for their contributions to the growth of trade relations between the Middle East and the sub-continent.

The awards were announced in September and the online voting phase is receiving strong public support, according to the organisers.

Narayana Murthy is the chairman and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited and  Lakshmi N Mittal president and CEO Arcelor Mittal.

The organisers also unveiled the trophy that will be presented to eight outstanding Asian businessmen and women on the night of the awards ceremony.

“We’re delighted at how the public has responded. We believe the overwhelming public support shown for the awards is a strong affirmation of the importance of the event and an assertion that the public is aware that economic collaboration between the two regions is imperative and can only yield increased opportunities, as well as economic and social benefits for more people,” said chairman of Al Barari Zaal Mohammed Zaal.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the world’s leading business advisory services set the criteria and parameters for each nomination category and are also the independent analysts for the ABA ME.

Eighteen prominent business leaders from the region were short listed by a highly qualified Grand Jury, along with, PricewaterhouseCoopers and event architects and owners Indian Expressions and Real Media earlier this month.

These include: The ABA ME Outstanding Business Woman Of The Year, The ABA ME Outstanding Asian Business Man Of The Year, The ABA ME Asian Rising Star Of The Year, The ABA ME Outstanding Asian Contribution To The ME Development and The ABA ME Asian Business Leader Of The Year. – TradeArabia News Service