The World Economic Forum presented President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia with its Global Statesmanship Award- President Yudhoyono is the third recipient of the prize. Earlier recipients were President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil in 2010 and President Felipe Calderón of Mexico in 2012
- For more information on the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2014: http://wef.ch/ea14
Metro Manila, Philippines 23 May 2014 – The World Economic Forum presented President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia its Global Statesmanship Award, the third time the prize has been given. At the presentation ceremony during the World Economic Forum on East Asia, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, told Yudhoyono – known widely by his initials “SBY” – that the award is “to recognize the many ways in which you have reshaped your country during your two terms as the President of the Republic of Indonesia.” Schwab said: “Many would describe the period of your leadership as Indonesia’s ‘Golden Years’ – a time during which Indonesia’s economic growth has been one of the fastest of the G20 economies.”
Noting that the president is one of the co-chairs of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals, Schwab praised Yudhoyono, who steps down as Indonesia’s leader in October, for having “contributed significantly to global dialogue on economic development and democratization”. Schwab recalled that, during his administration, the president encountered great challenges, such as the 2004 tsunami, handling them with great statesmanship. He added: “Most of all, you have ensured that democracy remained at the centre of Indonesia’s political identity. You have shown, as the leader of the world’s largest Muslim democracy, that there is a strong compatibility between the tenets of such a great religion with modernity, inclusion, gender equity and education.”
Accepting the award, Yudhoyono said that Indonesia has made remarkable economic, political and social progress over the past decade. “We have proved to ourselves and to the world that we do not have to choose between democracy and development,” he said. “We can have both political freedom and high economic growth. We are an example that democracy, Islam and modernity can go hand in hand.”
By putting its domestic house in order, Indonesia has been able to play a more active regional and global role, Yudhoyono explained. The quality of leadership matters in development, he concluded. “Leadership can be the 2%-3% difference in economic growth. Leadership can be the difference between new peace and continuing conflict and between development and decay.”
The 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia, hosted with the support of the Government of the Philippines, is taking place in Metro Manila on 21-23 May 2014. The theme of the meeting is,Leveraging Growth for Equitable Progress. The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum on East Asia are: Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International, Switzerland; Takeshi Niinami, Chairman, Lawson, Japan; Global Agenda Council on the Role of Business; Atsutoshi Nishida, Chairman of the Board, Toshiba Corporation, Japan; James T. Riady, Chief Executive Officer, Lippo Group, Indonesia.
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