Magazines Archives - 2008 November

Top retailers feted at awards ceremony and gala dinner
Story 4 - Special Event

KEY players in the retail industry gathered at the fifth Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on 16 October 2008. Held at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, along Cotai Strip, Macau, the event recognised the region’s best retailers.

This year, the event, which is the only pan-Asian awards for the retail industry, was staged to coincide with the third ICSC Asia Expo 2008, which ran from October 14-16.

During his opening speech, RETAIL ASIA chairman Steven Goh said the Top 500 Asia-Pacific retailers “represent the pinnacle of successful retailing and exhibited the ability to excel in tough times”.

“They have the ability to preempt changes, consumer trends and socioeconomic developments. They are able not only to preempt trends but also to respond to them,” he elaborated.

He added that these retailers succeeded because they have “the spirit and passion, and have developed a programme with a compelling proposition to the market”.

Other speakers — KPMG’s George Svinos, Euromonitor International’s Sunil Devmurari, Visa International’s June Seah and ADT Security’s Robert Zhu — also highlighted the resilience of these retailers in the midst of economic uncertainty and the financial crunch, and expressed optimism that the top companies would continue to shine.

Of the Top 500 retailers, 42 were recognised at the event. They were the top three retail organisations in the 14 major economies in the region — Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

To view full story, get a copy of Retail Asia. To subscribe, please download the subscription form from http://www.retailasiaonline.com/subscription.html