American Express announces sponsorship of Asia CEO Awards in RP

Manila, Philippines - American Express today announced its title sponsorship of the Asia CEO Awards 2011 in the Philippines.

The Asia CEO Awards is a prestigious annual program comprised of 10 awards given to many of the most accomplished and successful leadership teams and individuals currently operating in the Philippines. The awards recognize extraordinary leaders who have demonstrated outstanding achievement for their organizations, and contributions to others in the corporate community. An eminent and respected board of judges selects the award winners.

At the press conference formally launching the event, Ophelia Camina, senior vice president, Cards Issuing Business head, BDO, the sole merchant acquirer and issuer of American Express Cards in the Philippines, said, “The Philippine market has demonstrated robust economic growth and the outlook continues to be positive. As the corporate sector grows rapidly, recognizing leadership excellence becomes key to its future success. We believe American Express’ sponsorship of the Awards will help in the development of the corporate sector by giving recognition to corporate leaders and acknowledging their entrepreneurial and leadership skills. The title sponsorship of the awards will contribute further to the success of our partnership with American Express in growing the cards business in this market.”

Commenting on the announcement, Rebecca Bustamante, president of the Asia CEO Awards, said, “We welcome the support from American Express as the title sponsor for the Asia CEO Awards. We feel strongly that superb Philippine leadership talent is a key factor behind the success of the corporate sector. We thank American Express for placing substantial resources behind Asia CEO Awards to recognize this leadership talent and the increasing economic strength of the nation as a whole.”

Ashutosh Agrawal, vice president, head of Commercial Card, Japan, Asia Pacific, Australia, Global Network Services at American Express, said, “American Express is delighted to be the title sponsor of the Asia CEO Awards. This is an important market for us and we offer corporations comprehensive solutions to help them better control their indirect expenses and generate savings. The sponsorship demonstrates our long-term commitment to increasing American Express’ brand presence and growing our commercial cards business in partnership with BDO in the Philippines. The awards exemplify American Express corporate values such as leadership, quality, innovation and integrity. We are confident the corporate community in the Philippines will benefit from this initiative.”

American Express has had a strong presence in the Philippines for many years. Their brand presence has been further strengthened in recent years through its partnership with Philippines’ leading bank, BDO, the sole issuer of American Express Cards in the market, both to individuals and corporations. American Express Cards are well-regarded for their prestige, exclusivity and superior value.

The 2011 Asia CEO Awards, presented by American Express, will recognize a new batch of business leaders and corporate groups for their leadership excellence.

Because of its mission, the awards has attracted major support from many of the country’s industry-dominant companies including KPMG, Jones Lang Lasalle, NorthgateArinso, PLDT Alpha Enterprise, and GetCre8ive, the Philippine representatives of Getty Images.

The official start of the nominations for the 2011 Asia CEO Awards will be July 2011. The winners will be announced at a gala event in November.