Liew is Malaysian E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2011

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, president and CEO of S P Setia Bhd, has been honoured as the Malaysian Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) 2011. This was announced at the Ernst & Young EOY awards gala held at the J W Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur last night.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, who represented the deputy prime minister, officiated at the gala.

Liew will represent Malaysia to join more than 50 winners from other countries to compete for the coveted Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) award in Monte Carlo, Monaco next year.

Ernst &Young Malaysia country managing partner Abdul Rauf Rashid said, "In E&Y, we believe entrepreneurship is fundamental and vital to every economy today. Entrepreneurs help generate employment and industry growth. They drive the economy and progress society. Indeed, driving entrepreneurship in Malaysia augurs well for the government's Economic Transformation Programme that encourages and facilitates private sector initiatives to drive our economy to a high-income nation."

In addition to the top honour, E&Y also presented four other awards for entrepreneurial excellence to the following individuals:

• Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2011: Chan Kee Siak, CEO, Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd

• Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2011: Chu Jenn Weng, CEO/president, ViTrox Corp Bhd

• Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2011: Datin Chan-Low Kam Yoke, chairman/group CEO, HELP International Corp Bhd

• Master Entrepreneur of the Year 2011: Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, president and CEO, S P Setia Bhd

The award recipients were selected by an independent panel of judges guided by a set of globally benchmarked criteria.

On the selection of the Ernst & Young EOY 2011 Malaysia, the panel of judges commented that Liew stood out for his innovative thinking, embodying the true spirit of entrepreneurial excellence and commitment to continue making a difference to people's lives, be it the community or his employees. In their view, he has demonstrated keen foresight and the entrepreneurial qualities of passion, vision, determination and innovation, with an emphasis on sustainability.

In conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the EOY awards in Malaysia, Ernst & Young also paid tribute to past Malaysian EOY winners who include Tan Sri Francis Yeoh (2002 and chairman of the World EOY 2011 judging panel); Datuk Seri Nadzmi Mohd Salleh (2003); Tan Sri Lim Wee-Chai (2004); Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing (2005); Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (2006); Datuk Seri Edmund Santhara (2007); Datuk A K Nathan (2008); Datuk Seri Shahril Shamsuddin (2009) and Datuk Seri Stanley Thai (2010).