The Nikkei Asia Prizes are awarded annually to individuals or groups selected for achievement in three categories: regional growth, technological innovation and culture.
This year's winners are Narayana Murthy of India for regional growth, Lee Ho-wang of South Korea for technological innovation, and the Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee for culture.
This is the sixth year the prizes have been awarded. At the award ceremony in Tokyo on June 6, each winner will receive a certificate of commendation and 3 million yen ($25,000).
- This year's winners are
- Narayana Murthy
- Lee Ho-wang
- Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee
Prizewinners enriched Asia
Three winners chosen from 66 finalists from 18 countries/regions
BY GAISHI HIRAIWA
Chairman emeritus, Keidanren
We have decided to award the Sixth Nikkei Asia Prizes to the following two people and one organization that have made outstanding contributions to Asia through the years.
Narayana Murthy, winner of the Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth, has made Infosys Technologies Ltd., a software house he jointly set up with friends in 1981, a blue-chip corporation representative of the Indian information-technology industry. He has made huge charitable donations to organizations related to technical education, aimed at alleviating poverty through industrial development, while giving employees of his company shares in the firm so they have a chance at a better life.
Murthy is highly esteemed in India as a person who gives hope and a goal in life to young people.
Professor Lee Ho-wang has been awarded the Nikkei Asia Prize for Technological Innovation, in honor of his work in isolating the Hantaan virus, the cause of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, in 1976 and contributing to the prevention of the disease by developing a serum diagnostic method and vaccine.
He has also contributed to the isolation of another Hantaan virus, which broke out in North America in the 1990s, and helped to determine how it propagates.
Lee was appointed director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Hantaan Virus Reference and Research in 1996. He was elected president of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea in August 2000.
The Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee, winner of the Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture, successfully compiled and published a dictionary of classic Newari, an ancient and important language of Nepal, last year after working on it for nearly 20 years.
The dictionary is important not only for linguistic research in the Himalayan region but also for the study of history and culture in the area, as well as of Buddhism and Hinduism.
The dictionary is a superb academic achievement, linguistically speaking, and can be regarded as an academic and cultural feat of which Nepal can be justifiably proud. The committee is the first Nikkei Asia Prize recipient from Nepal.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. commissioned some 50 experts both at home and abroad to submit candidates for the three prize categories - regional growth, technological innovation and culture. The 66 candidates they chose come from 18 countries/regions in the Asia/Pacific region.
The Nikkei Asia Prizes were established with the aim of "paying tribute to people who have contributed to enriching the lives of Asian people." We sincerely hope the awards can help us deepen our understanding of Asia.
Gaishi Hiraiwa is chief judge for the Nikkei Asia Prizes. He is chairman emeritus of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, or Keidanren
