Kwek Leng Beng receives award from Malaysian Prime Minister

Singapore – Mr Kwek Leng Beng, Executive Chairman of Hong Leong Group Singapore, was presented the Global Blue Ocean Shift Award by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Global Entrepreneurship Community Summit held in Kuala Lumpur.

Centred on the philosophy of global best-sellers, Blue Ocean Strategy and Blue Ocean Shift, the award given to Mr Kwek was in recognition of his efforts in opening up new frontiers of opportunity and growth and creating a new pipeline for economic expansion.

The inaugural Global Blue Ocean Shift Awards were handed out by Prime Minister Najib to Mr Kwek and other recipients who included senior Malaysian officials such as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein Onn and Chief Secretary to the Malaysian Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa for their work in implementing the 'blue ocean strategy'. The awards also recognised the outstanding achievements made across the public, private and social sectors.

In his address, Prime Minister Najib said since its introduction in 2009, the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) had been a key pillar in Malaysia’s transformation as the government followed what was known as the Blue Ocean Shift process to tackle a wide range of economic and social issues, and rapidly deliver high impact initiatives for the benefit of the people and at low cost to the government.

The Blue Ocean Shift ideology focuses on identifying untapped growth opportunities by moving from “red oceans” crowded with competition to “blue oceans” of uncontested market space and explosive growth.

A firm practitioner of the  ideology, Mr Kwek was also  on  the  panel discussion  on  ‘Blue  Ocean Entrepreneurship In Action’ at the two-day conference at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, where 15,000 people from 89 countries attended.

Mr Kwek, who is also Chairman of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), shared with the audience how he is incorporating the Blue Ocean Shift in the workplace.

“I am a Blue Ocean fan and I was surprised to receive this award and greatly honoured. I am encouraging my hotel staff to adopt the Blue Ocean Shift mindset to be inspired and to embrace innovative solutions to stay ahead of the competition,” said Mr Kwek.

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