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Thailand Hosts CNBC’s 11th Asia Business Leaders Awards 2012

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11th ABLA to broadcast globally in Asia, U.S and Europe

Singapore, 23 October 2012 - CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, celebrates the 11th anniversary of its prestigious Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA) in Thailand this year. The 11th ABLA will be held at the Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok on November 16, 2012 and broadcast globally on November 22nd at 8pm (SIN/HK).

CNBC created the prestigious ABLA to salute remarkable business leaders for their continued commitment to excellence in Asia. This event gathers the most influential names in business under one roof to celebrate vision and the spirit of achievement in business leadership.

Some of the past ABLA winners have included: Steve Chang, Carlos Ghosn, Anand G. Mahindra, Shiv Nadar, Nanlan M. Nilekan, S. Ramadorai, Tan Pheng Hock, Tan Sri Dato' (Dr.) Francis Yeoh and Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala.

CNBC's award winning anchors, Martin Soong, Bernard Lo and Christine Tan will host this year's ABLA, which will feature interview segments and multiple award presentations.

"CNBC is proud to bring the 11th Asia Business Leaders Awards to Thailand," said Satpal Brainch, President and Managing Director, CNBC International. "Over the past 10 years, the awards have recognized the tremendous pool of talented business leaders who have helped shape the Asian economy. This year's ABLA aims to commend today's outstanding leaders who will continue to positively impact the Asian story in the years ahead."

The awards contended for are (in alphabetical order):
a. Asia Business Leader of the Year
b. Asia Innovator of the Year
c. Corporate Social Responsibility Award
d. Lifetime Achievement Award
e. Talent Management Award
f. Thailand Business Leader of the Year

The destination host for the 11th ABLA is the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB). Also sponsoring this year's ABLA are PTT Group as the Innovation Award sponsor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Development Dimensions International (DDI) as knowledge and research partners and The Bangkok Post as the print media partner.

For more information on ABLA, please log on to our website: http://abla.cnbc.com

About CNBC in Asia Pacific
CNBC is the world leader in business news providing fast, actionable, accurate and unbiased business and financial news to 390 million households worldwide. Headquartered in Singapore, the network provides seven hours of live Asia-produced programming, which is complemented with coverage of live market action from Europe and the US. CNBC Asia Pacific's channels, which include CNBC Asia, CNBC-TV18 (India), CNBC Pakistan, Nikkei-CNBC (Japan) and SBS-CNBC (South Korea) are available in more than 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region. CNBC Asia Pacific also has a strategic alliance with Shanghai Media Group, and a collaboration with China Central Television (CCTV). In China, CNBC reaches 400 million homes via a daily Mandarin segment produced by CNBC, which is broadcast on CCTV's Business Channel programme, Global Connection Show. The channels are distributed via satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcast networks, as well as through digital platforms. More information is available at www.cnbc.com

About CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards ("CNBC ABLA")
CNBC's Asia Business Leaders Awards acknowledge exceptional CEOs regionally. Recipients of the awards are stellar individuals who are visionaries behind today's outstanding businesses. They epitomize core values of a successful leader - strength, innovation, ingenuity, knowledge and foresight – values that are imperative to carving out powerful businesses in the global economy. ABLA contributes to the development of the business community in Asia as it salutes exceptional regional business leaders for their accomplishments and gives the Asian business community the opportunity to learn valuable lessons from them. The CNBC ABLA not only recognizes these outstanding individuals, but is a platform in which they are able to engage with the business community at large.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)
The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) was established in 2004 by the Royal Thai Government, under the Office of the Prime Minister, as a cutting-edge professional organization with the mission to develop Thailand as the regional hub for meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibition (MICE), and enhance the contribution of this collective industry to the broader economy. TCEB works closely with the private sector, serving as a "one-stop" focal point to promote and facilitate networking, trade, knowledge exchange and the transfer of technical know-how, both regionally and on a global basis. This partnership ensures coherence, efficiency and the highest standard of service delivery, preparing local MICE operators in meeting the many new challenges they face, and enhance their ability to win bids and organize international events. The wealth of experience and expertise offered by TCEB is second to none and focuses on a single objective: the success of its clients' events.

PTT Group
Established in 1978 as a state enterprise, Petroleum Authority of Thailand or PTT was formed to conduct petroleum and related businesses. PTT Public Company Limited ("PTT Plc") was registered as a company under the Corporatization Act in 2001 with a capital of 20,000 million baht. It is currently a fully-integrated energy company and an industry leader in exploration and production, transmission, petrochemical, refining as well as marketing and trading of petroleum and petrochemical products. It currently ranks as the world's 95th largest corporate in Fortune Global 500. PTT's main businesses include procurement, transmission and distribution of natural gas in Thailand through a 3,508-km pipeline network, as well as marketing and processing of natural gas through 5 gas separation plants. The company, through its 65.4%-owned subsidiary, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd., conducts oil and gas exploration and production both domestically and overseas. Most projects are located in the Gulf of Thailand, and overseas projects cover Asia Pacific, the Middle East and West Africa. PTT Group never loses its grip on corporate social responsibility, environmental protection, and preservation of nature. Through its efforts, approximately 250,000 hectares of mature forests have been added to the country thus far. Continuous improvement, benchmarking and monitoring of green house gas emissions and energy conservation are placed in the latest roadmap for sustainability. The company intends to create and enhance awareness on climate change and energy conservation for the public through designed programs and campaigns.

University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Founded in 1898, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth) is a Nobel Prize-winning powerhouse. It is recognized globally for producing world-changing ideas and extremely well prepared graduates. Chicago Booth is known for its world-renowned faculty who consistently define new areas of study and shape the way the world does business. It is also the first business school to have a Nobel Laureate on its faculty and is also the first and only business school to have had six Nobel Prize winning faculty members. The Chicago Booth is also the first business school to offer a Ph.D. program in Business back in 1920. And it is also the first to offer an Executive MBA program back in 1943. The Chicago Booth Asia campus in Singapore, which was established in 2000, attracts executives throughout Asia and other countries to its Executive MBA program. The part-time Executive MBA program prepares high-potential managers and experienced professionals for positions of greater responsibility. The program includes joint residential sessions in London, Chicago and Singapore with students from all three campuses that are fully owned by the Chicago Booth. The Executive MBA program offered in the Asia campus (in Singapore) is exactly the same program offered in the London and Chicago campuses and is taught by the same faculty who teaches in all Chicago Booth programs. The Chicago Booth supports an active network of more than 47,000 alumni around the globe. These graduates lead and succeed in every possible industry including some 5,500 CEOs and top officers of firms worldwide. Visit Chicago Booth at http://www.chicagobooth.edu/execmba/.

Development Dimensions International (DDI)
As CNBC's Research Partner for the Asia Business Leader Awards, Development Dimensions International (DDI) interviews shortlisted CEOs to assess their leadership qualities based on criteria such as strategy formulation and execution, talent management, innovation, and social contribution. Founded in 1970, DDI is a global talent management expert and works with organizations worldwide to apply best practices to hiring/promotion, leadership development, performance management and succession management. With associates in 42 offices in 26 countries, the firm advises half of the Fortune 500. For more information about DDI, visit www.ddiworld.com/aboutddi.

The Bangkok Post
The Post Publishing Public Company Limited is the publisher and distributor of the Bangkok Post – an English-language newspaper, Post Today – a Thai language business daily, Student Weekly – an English language magazine for high school, university students and other readers and M2F – a newly established free Thai-language newspaper for circulation directly to young professionals working in Bangkok.

Appendix:

Award Categories Definition

Asia Business Leader of the Year
The Asia Business Leader of the Year Award recognizes the business leader who makes his or her vision a reality for the company – driving growth, success and profitability. Qualities including innovation, community service, management skills as well as the leader's ability to formulate strategies and capitalize on key trends are key judging criteria.

Asia Innovator of the Year Award
The Asia Innovator of the Year Award rewards inventive thinking in business. The award recognizes the leader who has pioneered new business processes, creative solutions and technologies or led an organization that has innovation at its very core and in the process, achieved outstanding business success.

Corporate Social Responsibility Award
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the arts, education, the environment and community development. The winner of this award will be judged on the ability to translate a company's success into benefits for the community and makes societal impact a corporate priority.

Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors the leader who has, during the course of his or her career, made significant contributions in shaping, growing and developing the economic landscape.

Talent Management Award
The Asia Talent Management Award goes to the business leader who values its workforce and is committed to developing, retaining and nurturing the next generation of leaders.

Thailand Business Leader of the Year
The Thailand Business Leader of the Year Award is specially created for this year's ABLA to recognize excellence in leadership in the host city of this prestigious event. This Award recognizes an exceptional business leader from Thailand whose vision and management abilities have helped steer his/her company successfully in both his/her home country and in the global marketplace.