SME One Asia Awards is an event that is organised by The APF Group in Singapore. Currently in its fourth year, it has a total of 350 nominations and 191 winners, and has at least 1000 attendees for the awards dinner which is held at Marina Bay Sands every year.

History

The SME One Asia Awards was established in 2011 by the APF Group Pte Ltd to recognise the businesses and their leaders’ achievements of the Small and Medium Enterprises in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, particularly the companies that have implemented the business practices that contribute to the development of people, society and the environment. Through these developments, the awards promote

sustainable growth Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desi ...

as well as overseas.

Background

The SME One Asia Awards targets SMEs with more than S$1 million and less than S$100 million in yearly revenue. Currently, SMEs are an important part in Asia, as they help generate economic growth in Asia. Furthermore, the awards are built on a branding and publicity programme dedicated to raising the profiles and awareness of its winners. The SME One Asia Awards is also a platform in which socially responsible business leaders are given the opportunity to connect with each other, share business ideas and practices as well as growing to become an active community of socially responsible leaders. In 2012, the SME One Asia Awards ranked and judged 120 submissions, which included nominations from China,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, of which 66 companies were selected as winners across the six award categories. In 2013, the SME One Asia Awards spanned eleven industries with 27.3% of the companies coming from the

service industry The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, 4.6% of the companies coming from the

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

sector, 1.5% of the companies came from the entertainment and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

sectors, another 1.5% of the companies came from

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

industry, 16.7% came from the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

industry, 18.2% of the companies came from distribution and

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

sector, 4.6% came from the electronics and engineering sector, 6.1% of the companies came from the

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

industry, a further 6.1% of the companies were in the F&B sector, 3% of the companies came from the

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and transport industry and last but not least, 10.6% of the companies came from the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

sector.

Awards

This award comprises six categories, defined by the number of years the participating company has been in operation. The Distinguished Awards, for companies that have been in operation for more than 15 years. The Prominent Awards are for companies who have been in operation for more than 9 years. The Notable Awards are for companies who have been in operation for more than 5 years. The Emerging Awards are for companies who have been in operation for more than 1 year but less than 4 years. Last but not least, the Foreign Enterprise Award is given to foreign companies with a local presence and the Overseas Enterprise Award which is given to overseas businesses. In 2012, there was the introduction of the special awards category. The awards were designed to acknowledge companies with significant contributions. The Avant -Garde award is awarded to companies with creative business innovation. There is also the Hoffen award which is awarded to companies which inspire community development.

Avant-Garde Award

The Avant-Garde Award recognises companies that display business innovation and creativity, as well as companies who have effectively introduced inspiring, new and revolutionary ideas to their business models, products and/or services. Furthermore, the implementation of the ideas has to be well defined and must contribute to the company's overall business performance. In addition to that, the idea has to be original and surprising and must be able to capture imagination of people as well as the industry. One Winner of this Award was BreadTalk Group, who won it in 2012

Hoffen Award

The Hoffen Award recognises the faith and commitment of companies that bring new life and revival to living spaces, as well as honouring the companies which contribute to the betterment of the environment and people's lives. This award is meant to inspire people and social groups to make a difference, and for businesses to go beyond profit making. One winner of this Award was The Fullerton Heritage who won it in 2012.

Judging Process

The participating companies undergo both quantitative and qualitative assessment from a panel of judges. The judging criterion comprises the Companies’ Sales Turnover, their Brand Value, their

Profit Margin Profit margin is a measure of profitability. It is calculated by finding the profit as a percentage of the revenue. \text = = There are 3 types of profit margins: gross profit margin, operating profit margin and net profit margin. * Gross Pro ...

/ Profit per Staff, Entrepreneur Spirit /

Business Model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...

, and whether there is Responsible Leadership.

Judges

The SMEs that have been nominated for this award will have to undergo a selection process with advice and assessment from a panel of Judges/Advisors. In addition to that, the appointed panel of judges will provide insights and opinions that would add a critical dimension that will help to develop SMEs across the region. Furthermore, impartiality and confidentiality of the judging and auditing processes is ensured as an independent panel of judges/advisors from various associations, institutions and industry leaders are selected.

Winners

2011

2012

2013

Awards Dinner

The inaugural event was held a
Marina Bay Sands
Grand Ballroom on 28 October 2011. It attracted 110 nominations, of which 60 companies were winners. There were 1100 guests who attended the gala awards ceremony presided over by the Guest of Honour, Mr Seah Kian Peng who presented the award trophies. Several ambassadors from various countries in Asia were present to witness the ceremony. In 2012, the second Awards Dinner was held a
Marina Bay Sands
with 65 winners from 9 categories with a total of 1130 guests attending the event. The guests include the winners and their guests, as well as business owners and foreign delegates. Furthermore, the guest of honour for that year was Mr Seah Kian Peng. In 2013, the third Awards Dinner was held a

with a total of 1180 guests attending the event, the guests include the Winners and their guests, business owners, distinguished guests, ambassadors, foreign delegates, members from trade associations, government institutions, sponsors as well as partners, media partners and journalists from the various newspapers. Below is the summary of the number of awards given out for each year, including significant winners

Media coverage

For the SME One Asia Awards Dinner
Channel News Asia
was the official media partner for the SME One Asia Awards. Other supporting media partners includ
The Business TimesThe Straits Times
an
Lianhe Zaobao
Also included are the various write ups that were featured in other publications.

Regional expansion

The SME One Asia Awards 2013 includes participants from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and China. Supporting regional partners and their media providers are also invited for the event.

Supporting partners

Supporting Organisation
Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI)
Official Knowledge Management Partner
Singapore Institute of Management
Official Design Partner: A.S. Louken Group Pte Ltd Official Trophy Co-Sponsor
Royal Selangor International
Official Media Partner
CNBC

References

*{{Citation , last1 =Palma , first1 =Gabriel , last2 =Ocampo , first2 =Jose Antonio , title =Four Sources of De-industrialization and a New Concept of the 'Dutch Disease' , publisher =Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press , year =2005 , url =http://www.itdweb.org/smeconference/documents/plenary/PI%20Berry%20ENG.pdf , accessdate =2014-03-31 Economy of Singapore Business and industry awards Organizations related to small and medium-sized enterprises