SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong Presented Eisenhower Global Innovation Award
06 December 2016 - Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong has been presented the prestigious 2016 Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Innovation Award from the US-based Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU).
Mr Goh was presented the award at a gala dinner in New York City on the evening of 5 December 2016. It is the first time a BCIU award has been presented to a recipient from Southeast Asia.
BCIU is a non-profit, non-partisan association dedicated to forging relationships and promoting dialogue between business and government communities around the world. Past winners have included Masami Iijima from Mitsui & Co, Marillyn Hewson from Lockheed Martin, football legend Pelé, Ratan Tata from Tata Trusts, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, Sergio Marchionne from Fiat Chrysler, Mukesh Ambani from Reliance Industries, Lakshmi Mittal from ArcelorMittal and Jeffrey Immelt from General Electric, among others.
In presenting Mr Goh with the Global Innovation Award, BCIU President Peter Tichansky said it was in recognition of Mr Goh’s “transformational leadership of Singapore Airlines”.
“Goh Choon Phong, characteristic of BCIU’s Eisenhower Honorees, is an exemplary leader who has changed his industry through the courage of his convictions,” said Mr Tichansky.
“His drive to innovate is representative of Singapore’s global leadership in building a smart nation for the world to experience and in many ways emulate. BCIU looks forward to a long term engagement with the SIA team.”
In accepting the award, Mr Goh said: “I wish to thank the Business Council for International Understanding for this accolade, and am proud to accept it on behalf of the 25,000 employees of the SIA Group worldwide.”
Mr Goh added: “This award is genuinely about much more than any one individual. It is more accurate to characterise it as an award for the people of the great company I am privileged to work for. The perseverance of our staff, combined with their shared enthusiasm and constant desire to enhance the travel experience of our customers, makes this an award for all our employees, rather than just for me.”
At the same event, Dow Chemicals Company Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris was presented the 2016 Dwight D. Eisenhower Business Statesman Award.
The awards are named after former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who established BCIU in 1955. Its membership includes many of the world’s largest corporations in all major industries.
