ASEAN People Award

(Baonghean) - At the opening ceremony of the 26th ASEAN Summit held in Kuala Lumpur last April, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak officially announced a major and remarkable award called: ASEAN People Award.

The award was launched in July to honor citizens and organizations from ASEAN member countries who have made outstanding contributions to building a united, prosperous ASEAN community and caring for the lives of its people.

To successfully build a resilient and steadfast ASEAN community, solidarity and excellence from individuals and organizations within the bloc are needed. Photo: Internet.

The award highlights and promotes the achievements and inspiration from the contributions of organizations and citizens (individuals) to the effort to build the community, including the fields of politics, society, cultural development, economic integration, youth and life, education, volunteering, community development and empowerment. The national ASEAN Secretariat will select one candidate from each ASEAN member country to present the award. The winners will be awarded a trophy and a cash prize of 10,000 USD (about more than 200 million VND). Thus, 10 outstanding individuals/collectives from 10 countries will be honored for their contributions to the building of the ASEAN community. This is a very practical and meaningful activity before the community is officially formed at the end of this year.

Speaking about the special award, Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN said: “ASEAN turns 48 this year and we would like to recognise exemplary organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to our common community building efforts in various fields and capacities. The ASEAN Peoples Award celebrates the region’s unique wealth of talent, creativity and innovation. The award will be a timely prelude to the establishment of the ASEAN community by the end of 2015.”

The list of winning organizations and individuals is expected to be announced at an awards ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the 27th ASEAN Summit this November.

Thu Giang