Hong Kong's dynamic and enterprising spirit made the city an ideal host for the region’s best business leaders at the fifth CNBC Asia Business Leader Awards. This year's Awards program was presented by The Citigroup Private Bank at the Conrad Hotel and was attended by almost 300 of Asia's most influential business people.

 

CNBC pioneered the business leadership awards to recognize individuals who are creating and sustaining entrepreneurship, developing best practices and carving out powerful businesses in the global economy

 

Co-hosted by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo and Martin Soong, this special gala event was fitting of the exclusive stature of the Awards, and the high caliber of the finalists and winners. After an exhaustive search of 13,000 companies and CEOs, CNBC, along with knowledge partner, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, research partner, Development Dimensions International (DDI), and a prominent panel of judges, interviewed many candidates, finally selecting the six winners. Associate sponsors of this year's Awards were Allianz and BT, with InvestHK being a supporting sponsor.

 

A Summit: Driving Growth With Vision, featured as part of the Awards program earlier in the day. Moderated by CNBC’s Betty Liu, the Summit included four prominent speakers who delivered the keynote addresses: Paul Kam, the Chairman of Champion Technology Holdings, Jonathan Woetzel, Director, McKinsey & Company, Sir John Whitmore, Chairman, Institute for Human Excellence and Marjorie Yang, CEO, The Esquel Group. The Summit ended with a CEO roundtable discussion on Creativity in Context. Panelists included Keith Smith, President, International TBWA Worldwide, Steve Cone, Global Head, Advertising and Brand Management, Citigroup Global Wealth Management, Masanari Iketani, President, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. Ltd, Fredy Bush, CEO and Vice Chairman, Xinhua Finance Ltd, Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, and James D. Fisher, President, Beijing 2008 Olympic Solutions, GE.

 

CNBC broadcast exclusive coverage of the event.

 

The biggest award of the night, the 2006 CNBC Asia Business Leader Award, was awarded to Anand G. Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. 

 

• Asia Corporate Citizen of the Year (sponsored by InvestHK) - Ernesto "Ato" Tanmantiong, Jollibee Foods Corporation
• Asia Entrepreneur of the Year (sponsored by The Citigroup Private Bank) - Fredy Bush, Xinhua Finance Ltd
• Asia Innovator of the Year (sponsored by BT) - Masanari Iketani, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. Ltd
• Asia Talent Management Award (sponsored by DDI) - Ruey Bin Kao, Motorola (China) Electronics
• Hong Kong CEO of the Year - Tony Fok Tung Ling of Comba Telecom System Holdings