2017 ASEAN Entrepreneur Award
October 18, 2017 - Maekyung Media Group held its 18th World Knowledge Forum (WKF) at the Jangchung Arena in Seoul last week under the theme “Inflection Point: Towards New Prosperity.” The annual forum welcomed visitors from around the world with more than 100 sessions offered over three days. Guest speakers included: former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon talking about environmental issues, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton focusing on the direction of the U.S. under the Trump administration, and former French President Francois Hollande speaking about international challenges and opportunities facing the world.
The forum also included a gala dinner which acknowledged the winners of the ASEAN Entrepreneur Award. Maekyung Media Group and Asia Society Korea established the award in 2016 to recognize and honor business leaders in the ASEAN countries. This year the recipients were Le Van Kiem of Vietnam and Andrew Darwis of Indonesia. The awards were presented by Maekyung Media Group Chairman Dr. Dae-Whan Chang and Asia Society Korea's Honorary Chairman Dr. Hong-Koo Lee. Despite Le Van Kiem being unable to make it to Seoul, his daughter was in attendance to receive the award on his behalf.
Le Van Kiem is involved in many companies in Vietnam and overseas, employing almost 10,000 people across various sectors. Not only is Le Van Kiem well-known and respected for his successful business career, but he and his wife are two of the biggest philanthropists in Vietnam. To date, they have donated millions of dollars to different social charities in the country.
Andrew Darwis is the founder of Indonesia's largest online community, Kaskus. He started the company 17 years ago as a university project and hobby at the cost of only seven dollars. Thanks to a strong and loyal nationwide user base, his business has grown rapidly into the most popular online forum in Indonesia.
During the dinner, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon emphasized the importance of the award with this year marking the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Dr. Hong-Koo Lee used his speech to address the recent tensions in the region. While Asia has been a peaceful continent over the past fifty years, it is now one of the most explosive places on Earth. To overcome this very unfortunate situation, we need to gather our knowledge, build wisdom, and find ways to work together to avoid a regional catastrophe and preserve peace in the global village.
For coverage of the World Knowledge Forum in Korean, please visit: