Tony Fernandes Lifts USABC's Fourth Pillar Award

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes has been awarded the Fourth Pillar Award by the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) for his extraordinary contribution towards the growth of ASEAN and the US-ASEAN relationship. He was the second recipient of the award after US President Barack Obama, AirAsia said in a statement. The Fourth Pillar Award is presented to a person or organisation representing the "fourth pillar", a person that has made an extraordinary contribution towards the growth of ASEAN as well as fostering better US-ASEAN relationship. The award was presented at the ASEAN Economic Community Conference 2016 dinner in San Francisco. Fernandes, who is also a member of the ASEAN Business Club Advisory Council, said it was time for ASEAN to take a bold step towards commonality and standardisation. "There is an urgent need of one ASEAN regulator to ensure a unified ASEAN standard. The current process of relying on consensus that require approval from all 10 countries should be reviewed so that important initiatives move forward. "Our hope is for all 10 member countries to come together as harmonisation allows for more efficient use of resources, better economies of scale, reduction of unit costs and faster growth for the region," he said. -- BERNAMA