Iconic: 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final names best of APAC real estate

This year’s Best Developer winners from the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series gathered in Bangkok for the culminating eventThe 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, presented by Kohler, have announced the 56 regional and awards during a glittering ceremony held Friday evening, 9 November 2018, at the Athénée Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok in Thailand.

Awardees came from 15 key property markets across the Asia Pacific region, including an elite selection from Japan and Australia who joined the prestigious awards programme for the first time in its 13-year history. The Awards celebrated the new iconic developments in the region that champion green building, sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), value for money, and innovation.

Hong Kong’s New World Development Company Limited was hailed as Best Developer (Asia) of the year by the independent jury comprising the head judges in each participating market.

“New World Development Company Limited impressed the judges with its diverse range of high-quality developments this year. The company has proven itself to be leader in a difficult and extremely competitive property market like Hong Kong,” said Thien Duong, managing director of Transform Architecture and the chairperson of the Grand Final judges.

“Although New World Development has a longstanding record of impressive projects, the judges commend the company for continuing to strive to set new standards, with exciting developments such as Mount Pavilia, Skypark and the Forest winning accolades,” he added, speaking on behalf of the judging panel.

The culminating event of the prestigious series that journeys throughout the year across the region featured country winners from Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. In addition, finalists from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Mongolia participated in the regional competition to be named the ‘Best in Asia’. Overall, there were 22 regional categories, including Best Boutique Developer (Asia), which went to SonKim Land Corporation of Vietnam.

The first PropertyGuru Icon Award

The evening also introduced the new PropertyGuru Icon Award as one of the highest regional honours to be presented at the programme. The first-ever recipient of this distinction is one of Asia’s prominent and most active real estate leaders, Filipino-Chinese tycoon Dr. Andrew L. Tan, Chairman and CEO of Megaworld Corporation, who won the Philippines Real Estate Personality of the Year award in 2014.

Tan was chosen for leading his team to earn three consecutive Best Developer (Philippines) titles and for being a champion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the Megaworld Foundation and Empire East Cares. Tan accepted his award via a video message, whilst his son Kendrick Andrew L. Tan attended the ceremony to receive the award from PropertyGuru Group CEO Hari V. Krishnan.

Other top country awardees of the year were Jiguur Grand Group (Best Developer, Mongolia) and China Vanke Co., Ltd. (Best Developer, Mainland China). The top markets that won the most regional awards were Thailand (collecting seven ‘Best in Asia’ accolades) and Vietnam (5), followed by the Philippines (3), Indonesia (3) and Singapore (2). Sri Lanka, China and Hong Kong took home one regional award each.

The future belongs to Asia

Nearly 500 guests from around the region joined the exclusive ceremony, including H.E. Dr. Aladdin D. Rillo, Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the evening’s Guest of Honour, who delivered an inspiring message from the AEC about market integration and regional cooperation.

Hari V. Krishnan, CEO of PropertyGuru Group, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of the 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards. We are honoured to align with the region’s best and most innovative developers. They have made their teams and countries proud by producing iconic developments and improving the experiences of consumers.”

Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, said in his opening remarks: “Unlike 13 years ago, when we started this programme, there is now no doubt that the future belongs to Asia, which has the fastest growing economies today and is home to some of the most exciting real estate markets in the world. Hopefully the years the Asia Property Awards have spent promoting sustainable development, green buildings and corporate social responsibility, have in some small way, contributed to the conversation on what the best Asia should look like in the future.”

Global support, diverse jurists

The 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final was supported by platinum sponsor Kohler; official airline THAI Airways; co-sponsors Suumo, AA Corporation, CHEC Port City Colombo, and Hitachi Elevator; official portal partner PropertyGuru; associate partner Anjuke.com; media partners Southeast Asia Globe, Top 10 of Asia, and PropertyGuru Property Report; supporting associations The Business Council of Mongolia and British Chamber of Commerce Thailand; and official supervisor BDO, one of the world’s largest auditing and accountancy firms.

The Grand Final Jury was led by Vietnam’s Thien Duong, Managing Director of Transform Architecture, with: Cambodia’s Sorn Seap, Founder/Director, Key Real Estate Co., Ltd; Malaysia’s Prem Kumar, Executive Director, Jones Lang Wootton; the Philippines’ Dr. Jaime A. Cura, PhD., Vice-Chairman, The RGV Group of Companies; Sri Lanka’s Dr. Nirmal De Silva, Director/CEO, Paramount Realty; Myanmar’s Richard Emerson, Managing Director, Emerson Real Estate (ERE Myanmar Ltd); Thailand’s Suphin Mechuchep, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand) Limited; Indonesia’s Doddy A. Tjahjadi, Managing Director, PTI Architects; Singapore’s Lim Wenhui, Partner, SPARK Architects; Mongolia’s Batjav Batkhuyag, President, Rotary Club of Khuree; Hong Kong and Macau’s Paul Tse, President, Board of Directors, of Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers; and Mainland China’s Dr. Yuan Yue (Victor), Chairman, Dataway. The overall supervisor was Paul Ashburn, managing partner of BDO.