A Philippine telco has been presented with a prestigious global award for showing that making a profit, and ‘doing the right thing can come together.
Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) was honored at a special ceremony in New York City last week at the World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) for "giving the poor access to communication and micro-enterprise opportunities."
The wireless subsidiary of PLDT is among the ten recipients of the 2008 awards chosen from among a field of 104 nominees from 44 countries. SMART is the only awardee from Southeast Asia.
In particular, SMART was recognized for its "growth inclusive business model" – maintaining profitability while at the same time serving the needs of the poor by providing access to low cost telecommunications services, providing entrepreneurial avenues for the lower income segment of the market, empowering women through microfinance opportunities, helping boost the quality of education through Internet access, and practicing environmental sustainability.
Established in 2000, the biennial awards are the first worldwide business awards to recognize the crucial role of the private sector in implementing the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations. It is presented by the International Chamber of Commerce, The International Business Leaders Forum, and the United Nations Development Program.
"This is a great honor for SMART and for the Philippines. We are both elated and humbled. This award is not only very prestigious, but is also most meaningful," said Napoleon L. Nazareno, SMART president and CEO. "We are challenged to do much more to build our business in innovative ways that help our country move forward."
The awards ceremony was attended by Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade. It was part of activities during the opening week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
"Today, business leaders like all of you are rewriting the value equation —to show that true worth comes not only from profits but from making a positive difference," said Queen Rania in her address to the Awardees. "More and more, when we look at some of the cruelest challenges our human family faces, we find it is business leading the change of innovation for human development —inventing new tools, initiating new partnerships, re-imagining service delivery… to bring life-saving vaccines and life-altering technologies into the hands of the poor."
The WBDA said that "before SMART introduced low-cost mobile phone subscription in 1994, there were only one million landline subscribers and 102,400 mobile phone owners, all of whom belonged to the more affluent social classes. By the end of March 2008, there were 58.9 million mobile phone owners, with 31.6 million subscribing to the SMART network. Adhering to its original strategy and riding on the success of a project: ‘Smart Load’, the company has introduced about 20 other innovative products/services in just over 10 years which have revolutionized the telecommunications market in the Philippines."
"By democratizing telecoms and technology, SMART has helped democratize economic opportunities. The next step for us is to bridge the digital divide. Every Filipino should be connected to the worldwide web of knowledge, information and opportunities," said Orlando B. Vea, SMART’s founding president and chief wireless adviser.
The company was also cited for providing opportunities for entrepreneurship to more than one million Filipinos. It has also started making strides in the area of entrepreneurship through its microfinance program, among which the most prominent is the partnership with Microventures Inc. through the Hapinoy Store program, the first sari-sari store chain franchise in the Philippines, which provides financing for women.
This year’s award winners include ventures that provide Nigerian farmers with commercial finance and technical assistance to produce higher quality crops, expand electricity to the poorest neighborhoods of Brazil and provide credit services to the poor through mobile phones in Kenya.
In their press statement, the WBDA said that the spirit of innovation demonstrated by SMART and other WBDA winners has led to the formation of The Global Partnership for the Business Call to Action which was launched last week by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. /MP
No comments:
Post a Comment