3rd Global Good Governance Awards

Governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). The term governance can apply to corporate, international, national, local governance or to the interactions between other sectors of society. Good governance has traditionally been used to refer to public sector organizations and institutions.

However, now the term is used with a wider scope to cover not only government & politics but also private businesses and even social sector & philanthropy.

The Global Good Governance Awards (3G Awards) were founded as an advocacy platform by Cambridge IFA to promote good governance in the three chosen areas, namely, government & politics, private businesses and social sector. The inaugural 3G Awards ceremony took place in the historical city of Istanbul in 2016, which was followed by a very impressive event in 2017 in the vibrant city of Dubai. The Stakeholders Committee decided to hold the 2018 edition of the awards in Kuala Lumpur on April 23, 2018, wherein a large number of international delegates participated from all over the world, from the USA to Nigeria.

The choice of Kuala Lumpur was strategic. Contrary to the negative publicity the country has received in the wake of the recently held elections, Malaysia has come a long way on its governance record. The public sector has shown significant improvement in terms of adoption of good practices and governance standards. The Stakeholders Committee hoped that holding of 3G Awards in Kuala Lumpur would highlight Malaysia’s achievements in this area, presenting it as a role model to follow in the region.

“Over the last three years, we have adopted a strategy to highlight the role of regional players in the good governance regime to the global community,” said Dr. Sofiza Azmi, CEO of Cambridge IFA and President of 3G Awards Committee. “The 2017 3G Awards Ceremony was held in Dubai, which helped us identify the players like Friends of Cancer Patients, Bateel, ADCB and Salam Air for their commendable efforts and commitment to good governance.”

The 2018 3G Awards Ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur allowed the Awards Committee to bring an ASEAN-centric perspective to good governance. Many important winners from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand could have otherwise not been picked up by a global programme if the event was not held in the region. It helped the Awards Committee to even pick up winners from South Korea.

This year, 3G Awards Committee had nominated over 150 organisations and individuals from the public sector, businesses, and social sector and philanthropy. They went through a rigorous process of selection, and the winners in about 30 categories received 3G Awards & Certificates in a colourful celebration of good governance in government & politics, business, and social giving and enterprise.

The award winners came from over 15 countries. This year’s 3G Awards were distinct, as a number of utilities and energy producers were presented with awards. These included Bangchak Corporation PLC, PT Bhimasena Power Indonesia, and Kahramaa. Bangchak Corporation received two awards, namely, 3G Sustainability of Performance Award 2018 and 3G CSR Award 2018. As for the 3G Sustainability of Performance Award, the Awards Committee was highly impressed with the Bangchak’s sustainability policy and practices as part of its business culture and core values. In tandem with its commitment towards embracing sustainable practices throughout all its businesses, Bangchak Petroleum has adopted Green Sustainability Strategy consisting of Green Business, Green Production, Greenovative Experience and Green Society. The Committee also took note of the Green Partnership Award Project aimed to improve the management quality and social responsibility of service station owners and agricultural cooperatives under Created Share Value (CSV) concept.

Bhimasena Power Indonesia was honoured for its role in social empowerment with 3G Social Empowerment Award 2018. This award category recognises an organisation’s initiatives that focuses on improving livelihood and development opportunities of project-affected communities in a sustainable manner. The Awards Committee was highly impressed with Bhimasena’s “Community Empowerment Through Social Mitigation Program”, which have had a positive impact and successful in empowering people in economic development, education, health and infrastructure, social culture and the environment.

Table: 1 Winners from the Utilities Energy Sector

Kahramaa received two awards for its Tarsheed National Program, and was honoured with 3G Best Green Initiative Award 2018 and 3G Creativity & Innovation Award 2018. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) received two prestigious awards, namely 3G Advocacy & Commitment to Corporate Governance Award 2018 and 3G Excellence in Corporate Governance Award 2018 (see  Table 1). Last year, only one power producer received a 3G Award, where ENEL was honoured for its best corporate governance reporting initiatives.

An Example of Global Dimension of Competition in 3G Awards

It is also interesting to note that how competitive various award categories have turned out to be over the last three years. As Table 2 suggests, the 3G CSR Award 2016 was won by Novo Nordics, a pharmaceutical firm from Norway. Last year, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), a UAE-based financial sector firm, won the prestigious award.

This year, this award has gone to a power company in Thailand, i.e., Bangchak Corporation. This means that players from a very wide range of manufacturing and service sectors have to compete for a single award category.

This makes 3G Awards arguably the toughest awards programme in the world, unlike industry-specific awards wherein players in one chosen industry compete for different award categories.

Representation of Universities and Institutions of  Higher Learning at 3G Awards

Over the last three years, 3G Awards have provided adequate representation to the education sector. In the inaugural 3G Awards in 2016:

• 3G Education Award was presented to Eastern Public School, a not-for-profit school located in the central Indian city of Bhopal;
• 3G Excellence in Higher Education Award was presented to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan;
• Professor Mehmet Bulut, President of Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, received the 3G Special Award for Service to Higher Education;
• 3G Critics’ Choice Good Governance Award in Education was presented to Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia; and
• 3G Critics’ Choice Literacy and Female Education Award was awarded to Taleem Foundation, Pakistan.

In the 3G Awards 2017, the following winners emerged from the education sector:

• Higher Education Commission of Pakistan won 3G Governance of Higher Education Award; and
• Accounting Research Institute at Universiti Teknologi MARA was awarded the 3G Excellence in Higher Education Award;

This year’s 3G Awards brought a special focus on higher education.

• Professor Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, was chosen to receive 3G Civil Service Award 2018 for his services to promotion and governance of higher education in Pakistan. This prestigious award has on previous occasions was awarded to a financial sector regulator, Dr. Muliaman Hadad, Chairman of Indonesian Financial Services Authority (2016), and to Teten Masduki, Chief of Staff at the Executive Office of the President of Indonesia (2017).
• Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, for the second year in a row, was the recipient of the 3G Governance of Higher Education Award.
• 3G Research Excellence Award 2018 was won by COMSATS University, Pakistan.
• 3G Excellence in Higher Education Award 2018 was awarded to a new entrant to the family of 3G winners, namely, Hanyang University, South Korea (see the Box).
• 3G Social Responsibility in Higher Education Award 2018 was presented to Minhaj University.

Malaysian Success Stories

It was natural for this year’s 3G Awards to have more representation from the ASEAN region, given that the awards ceremony took place in Kuala Lumpur, which allowed logistic ease for many nominees to participate in the event. One country that has consistently performed best is Malaysia, irrespective of where the 3G Awards took place. Table 3 lists the winners from Malaysia in all three editions of 3G Awards.

A New 3G Success Story from South Korea

Social Innovation Centre at Hanyang University

Hanyang University is a private research university in South Korea. Its Social Innovation Centre was chosen to receive 3G Excellence in Higher Education Award 2018 for its volunteering programme which has now evolved into a full-fledged bachelor’s degree. The 3G Awards 2018 ceremony was as a huge success, with excellent media coverage and participation from all over the world. The recognition ofthe likes of Kenya Vision 2030 with the 3G Best Economic Transformation Programme in Africa 2018 was appreciated by the global stakeholders in good governance. Similarly, Soho Properties (a Manhattan-based asset management company specializing in the US property), was represented by its CEO, Sharif El-Gamal, who travelled all the way from New York to receive the 3G Responsible Investment Award 2018. Doha Bank received the 3G Financial Services Award this year, following the footsteps of Agrobank that won the award for the previous two occasions. The 3G Financial Inclusion Award 2018 was presented to Grassroot Microfinance Bank, Nigeria. It was not just the big boys in government & politics, corporate sector and not- for-profit organisations, who won the awards. It was small and medium size companies like Britnaire Limited (from London) that also celebrated their success. Jamil Akhtar, CEO of Britnaire Limited, was pleased to grab 3G Customer Care Award 2018 for his company’s success in serving its customers from different parts of the world.