An awards ceremony was held at Sheraton Hotel, Hanoi on September 28 to honour 12 most outstanding Chief Information Officers (CIOs), also known as information technology (IT) directors, in Southeast Asia.

The CIO ASEAN AWARDS 2011 was co-organized by the International Data Group (IDG), the National Steering Committee on Information and Communications Technology, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Among awardees are Amarit Laorakpong D.Eng – Executive Vice President of Siam Commercial Bank, Ho Sin Kheong – CIO of RHB Bank, Malaysia.

There are two female winners, namely Dam Thi Huyen - Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex), and Dang Thi Phuong Ba – Director of IT Center of Saigon -Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB).

Others include Cao Ba Thuy – IT Manager – HABUBANK, Chu Tien Dung – Chairman of Quang Trung Software City Development Company Ltd, Doan Quang Hoan – Director General of the Authority of Radio Frequency Management, Ministry of Information and Communications, Do Van Xe – Vice Rector of Can Tho University, Phan Ngoc Tho – Vice Chairman of Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Committee, Thai Vinh Lieu - Deputy Permanent Secretary of IT Steering Committee of Quang Tri Provincial Committee, Tran Ma Thong – Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, and Tran The Nam – General Director of Asia Informatics JSC (AICT).

Addressing the event, Vice-chairman of National Steering Committee on Information and Communication Technology, Do Trung Ta, who is also Chairman of Board of Judges of this year’s Awards, underlined that “If you keep a lookout in the industry of banking – finance – insurance – treasury, you will realize that CIOs have been recruited to work in the projects with the support of the world’s financial institutions like World Bank.”

“Vietnamese CIOs are considered to be on par with those in other countries in terms of project implementation efficiency. They have great potential and capacity to develop IT,” he stated.

For six consecutive years since 2005, CIO ASEAN Awards have been presented to 56 persons engaging in different fields of activity in the Southeast Asian region. Those honoured in the previous years have made important contributions to the successful growth of organizations and businesses in their countries.

VOV