CIMB chairman honoured with Asia House Asian Business Leaders Award

Malaysian banking executive Nazir Razak has been honoured with the Asia House Asian Business Leaders Award at a glittering gala dinner held at Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.

The 48-year-old chairman of CIMB Group was selected for the prestigious annual award for 2015 in recognition of his impressive business credentials, contributions to ASEAN and moral leadership.

Presenting the award on 13 October, Lord Strathclyde, who is Chairman of the Advisory Board, Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: “This is an opportunity to to honour Nazir Razak who in the course of his 26-year career at CIMB has made that bank one of the world’s largest Islamic banks and largest Asia Pacific-based investment bank.

“We have a gentleman who has used his own vision, leadership and formidable business acumen to build a team that has supported and empowered his bank and with it, Malaysia, onto the world stage.

“He has also moved countless of projects from concept to reality and one such project we have in London – Battersea Power Station,” he said.

“On behalf of the shareholders of Battersea Power Station I offer our heartfelt appreciation for Nazir Razak’s continuing support of our project and confidence in our team. Without the vision, techniques and expertise from  Malaysians, none of this would have happened,” he added.

He said the project, a regeneration of more than 48 acres of industrial land into houses and office spaces, was a great example of partnerships between governments, institutions and companies around the world working together.

“It is also down to the leadership of people like Nazir Razak and it gives me the greatest pleasure to give this award to Nazir Razak and to offer him our warmest congratulations,” he concluded.

In a corner of Banqueting House guests were able to admire a model of the envisioned Battersea Power Station development, which is being funded by investment from the ASEAN region.

A model of the envisaged Battersea Power Station development was on display at the Asian Business Leaders Award dinner. Photo by Miles Willis

Michael Lawrence, CEO of Asia House, also paid tribute to Mr Razak explaining why Asia House was honouring him. He said that Mr Razak spearheaded the CIMB Group’s transformation from a boutique Malaysian investment bank to Malaysia’s second-largest financial services group and the fifth largest universal bank in ASEAN. Mr Razak also guided the formation of the CIMB Foundation, the corporate responsibility and philanthropic platform of CIMB Group. The CIMB Group  has donated more than than RM100 million (US$28 million) to the Foundation as seed funding. “He has created a world-leading Islamic bank as part of his contribution to developing Malaysia’s banking and capital markets and he is a key driver of, supporter of and is very passionate about ASEAN integration and the future of that enormously exciting region,” Mr Lawrence added.

Receiving the Award Mr Razak said: “I am truly honoured, humbled and overwhelmed by this whole occasion. I would like to thank the board of Asia House for choosing me as the winner and congratulate them for all the great work they do. For me this award recognises the achievements of my many colleagues at CIMB where I have worked since it was a small merchant bank with 69 staff and now it has more than 40,000 staff across ASEAN.”

He said his career had been about bringing together ASEAN businesses in support of economic integration. So, he said the award was also a tribute to the team at the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI), and his colleagues at the ASEAN Business Club (ABC) in Kuala Lumpur. He also thanked the Battersea Power Station Development Company and his wife Azlina, who he said was his partner in everything he had done, achieved and intended to do. To read the full speech Mr Razak gave click here.

Nazir Razak gave a speech after receiving the Asian Business Leaders Award. Photo by Miles Willis

The Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, gave the keynote speech before the dinner and Tony Fernandes, Group CEO AirAsia and Co-Chair Malaysia of the ABC also made keynote remarks. To read what Mr Swire said in his keynote speech click here. To read what Mr Fernandes said in his personal tribute to Mr Razak click here.

Other distinguished guests at the gala dinner included Douglas Flint, Chairman of HSBC; Paul Manduca, Chairman of Prudential; Sir Henry Keswick, Chairman of Jardines; Rob Tincknell, CEO of Battersea Power Station; H.E. Mr Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi, Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK and Sir John Boyd KCMG, Chairman of Asia House.

The gathering was attended by more than 250 senior business leaders, political figures, ambassadors, High Commissioners and officials from 20 Asian countries and the UK, including a 25-strong delegation from the ABC in Malaysia.

Click below to see a slideshow of the event:-

Battersea Power Station was the Lead Sponsor of the event. The evening was also supported by Prudential plc, Olayan Europe Limited, IJM Land Berhad, HSBC Holdings plc, Eastern and Oriental Property (UK) Limited, CIMB Bank, CIMB Equities, Standard Chartered Bank, Harvey Nash and Berjaya Corporation Berhad.

More than 250 business and political figures from across Asia and the UK attended the gala dinner. Photo by Miles Willis

Earlier in the day the 25-strong delegation to London of notable business leaders from Southeast Asia, organised by Asia House and the ABC in Kuala Lumpur, attended the UK-ASEAN Dialogue, a high-level strategic discussion held at Asia House on politics, investment, infrastructure and financial services, as well as paid a visit to No. 10 Downing Street for a roundtable discussion hosted by Lord O’Neill of Gatley, the UK Government’s Commercial Secretary to the Treasury.

The delegation of business leaders from Southeast Asia outside No. 10 Downing Street

The business delegation from Southeast Asia posed for a photo inside No. 10 Downing Street prior to a roundtable with Lord O’Neill of Gatley, the UK Government’s Commercial Secretary to the Treasury

naomi.canton@asiahouse.co.uk

To read an exclusive interview Nazir Razak gave Asia House ahead of winning the award about ASEAN integration click here.

To read an exclusive interview Nazir Razak gave about how to get the Malaysian economy back on track click here.

To read what UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid said in his keynote speech at the UK-ASEAN Dialogue conference click here.