The Nikkei Asia Prizes are awarded annually to individuals or groups selected for achievements in three categories: regional growth, technological innovation and culture.
This year's winners are Shi Wen Long, chairman of Chi Mei Corp., for regional growth; Zhao Qiguo, former director of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for technological innovation; and Dang Nhat Minh, film director and general secretary of the Vietnam Cinema Association, for culture.
This is the fourth year of the prizes. At the awards ceremony in Tokyo on June 2, each winner will receive a certificate of commendation and 3 million yen ($24,800).
- This year's winners are
- Shi Wen Long : chairman of Chi Mei Corp.
- Zhao Qiguo : former director of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for technological innovation
- Dang Nhat Minh : film director and general secretary of the Vietnam Cinema Association, for culture
Awards Honor Individuals Contributing To Regional Recovery, Personifying Asia's Capabilities
Each of this year's winners of the Nikkei Asia Prizes make us keenly feel how able Asia is.
Although Asia's embattled economies have instilled in us some anxiety about the region's future, there are many people who, unswayed by the circumstances and based on their own convictions, are making steady efforts to improve our lives. For this year's awards we have selected three people who have made brilliant achievements through such efforts.
Shi Wen Long, who has been selected in the regional-growth category, founded Chi Mei Corp. in 1959 and has nurtured the company into becoming the world's largest maker of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin. Not one to follow convention, Shi has rejected family management, common among ethnic-Chinese enterprises, has adopted an employee-stock-ownership system and has promoted thorough rationalization.
We also valued his devotion to social activities in the art, medical-care and other fields.
Zhao Qiguo, selected in the technological-innovation category, has conducted research on soil distribution throughout China for more than 40 years and has drawn up an original map on soil resources. Based on this, he has shown guidelines for land improvement and crop selection, making it possible to increase harvests even in poor soil.
His research is very valuable in that he has pioneered ways to help resolve possible food shortages, a pressing global concern.
Dang Nhat Minh, selected in the culture category, has used film as a medium to portray the tragedy of war and wartime love between men and women, employing rich imagery that often draws upon farm villages. Since he began producing film dramas in 1975, he has consistently emphasized the freedom of artistic expression, producing films that convey the souls of Asian people.
As general secretary of the Vietnam Cinema Association, he is also pouring his enthusiasm into the instruction of younger film producers.
In this fourth year of the Nikkei Asia Prizes, 39 new candidates from 17 countries, plus 18 candidates who did not win in the previous three years, were reviewed for the three categories.
Among this year's candidates were some who promoted activities supporting people unable to enjoy the benefits of economic development. These included a leader of a campaign aimed at ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka, an India nongovernmental organization working to improve the environment, a person engaged in the social movement in the Philippines, and a banker in Bangladesh who provides financial assistance to village women using small amounts of business funds.
Measuring the degree to which these people's achievements have contributed to regional growth is a difficult task, and the Nikkei Asia Prizes will continue making efforts to determine the best-possible evaluation system.
For the first time, we have awarded an operator of a private enterprise in the category of regional growth. In both the technological-innovation and culture categories, we also made a conscious effort to select people whose fields differed from those of past awardees.
We would like to continue conducting examinations to select people in various fields for the award while at the same time focusing on Asians who have contributed to regional and global stability.
Gaishi Hiraiwa is chief judge for the Nikkei Asia Prizes. He is chairman emeritus of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, or Keidanren.
