AirAsia bags ASEAN Business Award 2017

Budget airline AirAsia Bhd has bagged this year's ASEAN Business Award (ABA) for Priority Integration Sector - Tourism, for its outstanding performance in the region's priority integration sector of tourism.

In a statement, its Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said ASEAN integration was about people as much as it was about policies.

"It's not just about having a community on paper. It's about experiencing first-hand how others live, creating new jobs in travel and tourism and forming new supply chains by connecting places that have never been connected," he said.

He noted that air travel did this and more and AirAsia carried 13.4 million people within ASEAN last year.

"We are proud to do our part to bring the region closer together," he added.

The ABA was created by the ASEAN BAC in 2007 to recognise outstanding ASEAN enterprises, serve as a platform to spread information on the Asean Economic Community, and spotlight small and medium enterprises that have the potential of becoming global economic players in their respective industries.

In addition to tourism, priority integration sector awards were given for achievements in 11 other sectors, namely fisheries, electronics, e-Asean/ICT, textiles, logistics, wood-based, rubber, agri-foods, healthcare, automotive, and retail.

At 10.55 am, AirAsia shares rose two sen to RM3.42 with 3.36 million shares transacted.

-- BERNAMA