South China Businessman wins 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award - the
Highest Award a Global Businessperson Can Receive
OSLO, NORWAY – May 16, 2017 –
After two days of celebration, winner of the 2017 Oslo Business for Peace
Award, long-time South China businessman, Dr. Harley Seyedin, along with
Elon Musk, Durreen Shahnaz, and Murad Al-Katib were presented their coveted
prize at the Oslo City Hall. The Business for Peace Award is the highest
recognition a global businessperson can receive. The selection took place in
London on February 9th, where the independent Award Committee of
Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics decided the 2017 winners from a pool of
nominees from over 40 countries put forward by the United Nations Global
Compact (UNGC), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Celebrations included a
private dinner hosted by their Royal Highnesses,
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway at their Residence ‘SKAUGUM’. Speakers included Erna Soleberg, Prime Minister of Norway who also
opened the 2017 Business for Peace Roundtable attended by nearly 200 Board
Chairs and CEOs from leading global companies, investors, civil societies and
politics. The Award Committee included Nobel Peace Laureate Ouided Bouchamaoui,
Nobel Economics Laureate Finn Kydland, Governing Mayor of the City of Oslo
Raymond Johansen, and Board Chair of Business for Peace Foundation Per
Saxegaard.
The Oslo Business for Peace
Award is not bestowed in recognition of philanthropy or for corporate social
responsibility. It is given to individual business leaders who are willing to
take risks and who challenge and inspire their surroundings, in order to reach
a better union between business and society. The award is conferred when
enlightened leadership has a business contributing to the potential between
business and society, rather than retreating to claims that “the business of
business is business”.
Award Committee member Ouided
Bouchamaoui stated: “This year again, the Business for Peace Nominees are the
proof that working ethically and looking for sustainable development is viable
and worthy. The nominees are accomplished entrepreneurs helping people in need
and showing the world that being businessworthy can also serve the values of
trade.”
Elon Musk (USA)
Elon Musk receives the Award for his
leadership of the way forward in the automotive industry, and for his
showcasing of business’ ability to help confront and solve the world’s most
demanding and complex problems. The battery technology of Tesla has recently
been successfully combined with solar energy in his company SolarCity, USA’s
second largest provider of solar systems.
Dr. Harley Seyedin (USA)
Dr Harley Seyedin is an Iranian
immigrant to USA, who has spent his life building a multi-national electricity
and low carbon infrastructure development business with great success in China
and Southeast Asia. He has lived more than 20 years in China and for the past
12 years he has held the position as president of the American Chamber of
Commerce in South China.
Murad Al-Katib (Canada)
Murad Al-Katib, son of Turkish
immigrants to Canada, receives the Award for his entrepreneurship in leading
the way in sustainable agriculture and contributing to feeding millions of
refugee families in the Syrian crisis. His company AGT Food and Ingredients is
one of the world’s largest lentil companies, handling about a quarter of the
global supply.
Durreen Shahnaz (Singapore)
Durreen Shahnaz receives the award for
her work in spearheading the transformation of the way financial and capital
markets work, focusing on purpose and maximizing impact. Her work in Impact
Investment Exchange (IIX), the world’s first stock exchange dedicated to social
enterprises – which she founded in 2009, has positively impacted 10 million
lives to date.
Please find the video of the
Award Ceremony here
and justification for the Honorees here.