Grand Prize

Angel Gurría

Achievements worthy of the award

As Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2006 to 2021, Mr Gurría developed the organisation as a pillar of the global economic governance architecture, which includes the Group of Seven, the Group of Twenty, and the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation, and as a reference point in the design and implementation of better policies for better lives. He broadened OECD’s membership with the accession of Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, and Slovenia, making the organisation more inclusive by strengthening its links with key emerging economies. Under his watch, the OECD led efforts to reform the international tax system and improve governance frameworks in anti-corruption and other fields. He heralded a new growth narrative that promotes well-being, including of women and youth, and scaled up the OECD’s contribution to the global agenda, including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Gurría has participated in various international non-profit bodies, including the Population Council and the Center for Global Development, both based in the United States. He chaired the International Task Force on Financing Water for All and continues to be deeply involved in water issues as a member of the United Nations Secretary-Generals Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation and of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water Security.

He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Governors of the Centre for International Governance Innovation; the Advisory Board of the Global Green Growth Forum; and the Advisory Board of the International Forum: Genomics, Innovation and Economic Growth. He was recently appointed as a member of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences of Spain.

Dr Gurría has received several awards and decorations from more than 30 countries, including Grand Officier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite agricole from the French Government. He received the Médaille de la Haute Assemblée from the French Senate and the Ridder Grootkruis in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau from the Netherlands. Most recently, he was awarded by the President of the Republic of Korea the Gwanghwa Medal for Excellent Diplomatic Service. He received the Medalla al Mérito Administrativo Internacional “Gustavo Martínez Cabañas” from the Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública for his longstanding contribution to the development of public administration in Mexico.

In 2007, Dr Gurría was the first recipient of the Globalist of the Year Award of the Canadian International Council to honour his efforts as a global citizen to promote trans-nationalism, inclusiveness, and global consciousness. His other awards include the Ben-Gurion Leadership Award from the University of Ben-Gurion of the Negev, the Award Isidro Fabela from the Mexican Association of International Studies, the Nueva Economía Award, the Orden Bernardo O’Higgins en el Grado de Gran Cruz, and the Medalla Rectoral from the University of Chile.

Dr Gurría is a regular contributor to some of the world’s leading newspapers and journals.
For his continuous support and longstanding contribution to the field of development, the Grand Prize of the 5th Asia Cosmopolitan Awards is awarded to Dr Angel Gurría.

Economic and Social Science Prize

Mari Elka Pangestu

Achievements worthy of the award

Dr Mari Elka Pangestu is Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank since 2020. She has more than 30 years of experience working in academia, government, and international organisations as an expert on international trade, investment, and sustainable development in multilateral, regional, and national settings.

Most recently, she was Senior Fellow at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, Professor of International Economics at the University of Indonesia, adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, and a Board Member of the Indonesia Bureau of Economic Research and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.

Dr Pangestu served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade from 2004 to 2011 and as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2011 to 2014. As Minister of Trade, she led international trade negotiations and cooperation for Indonesia. She played an active role in the World Trade Organization, initiated various meetings of ministers of trade, and provided leadership in regional cooperation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and at the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Dr Pangestu has been a leading voice on a range of global economic and development issues in Indonesia and other countries. She worked with Jeffrey Sachs on the UN Secretary General Millennium Development Goals Review (2003–2005), served as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC, and Advisor to the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation of the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi. She was a Member of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Co-chair of the expert group for the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy; Panel Member of the Equal Access Initiative, a World Health Organization initiative; Commissioner for the Low-Carbon Development Initiative of Indonesia; and Executive Board Member of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Dr Pangestu served as Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong; Board Member of the Australia Indonesia Council; Member of the Editorial Board of the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Australian National University; Member of the Global Future Council on Trade and Investment, World Economic Forum; President of the United in Diversity Foundation, Jakarta; Commissioner on the Board of Astra International; Chairman of Bank BTPN, Indonesia; and Member of the International Advisory Board of McLarty Associates, Washington, DC.

She was given the Lifetime Achievement in Leadership Award at the World Chinese Enterprise Forum in Chongqing in 2014, and the Distinguished Fellow Award by the Eisenhower Fellowships in 2018.

Dr. Pangestu obtained her BA and MA degrees from the Australian National University and her PhD from the University of California Davis.

For her contributions to sustainable global economic development, the Economic and Social Science Prize of the 5th Asia Cosmopolitan Awards is awarded to Dr Mari Elka Pangestu.

Cultural Prize

KUMA Kengo

Achievements worthy of the award

KUMA Kengo was born in 1954. Before establishing KUMA Kengo & Associates in 1990, he received his Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Tokyo, where he is currently a University Professor and a Professor Emeritus.

Having been inspired by Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, KUMA Kengo decided to pursue architecture at a young age, and later entered the Architecture program at the University of Tokyo, where he studied under Hiroshi Hara and Yoshichika Uchida.

During his Graduate studies, he made a research trip across the Sahara, exploring various villages and settlements, observing a unique power and beauty. After his time as a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University in New York, he established his office in Tokyo.
Since then, KUMA Kengo & Associates has designed architectural works in over thirty countries and received prestigious awards, including the Architectural Institute of Japan Award, the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Finland), and the International Stone Architecture Award (Italy), among others. He is also known for being involved in the design of the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, built for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

KUMA Kengo & Associates aims to design architecture which naturally merges with its cultural and environmental surroundings, proposing gentle, human scaled buildings. The office is constantly in search of new materials to replace concrete and steel, and seeks a new approach for architecture in a post-industrial society.

He led variety of research projects concerning architecture, urbanism and design within his laboratory, KUMA Lab. KUMA Kengo & Associates designing projects of diverse type and scale throughout the world. His design vision expresses the emotional content of materials, linked to intrinsic characteristics in construction and the teachings of Japanese traditions.

His major publications include Ten Sen Men (“point, line, plane”, Iwanami Shoten), Hito no Sumika (“shelters for people”, Shincho Shinsho), Makeru Kenchiku (Architecture of Defeat, Iwanami Shoten), Shizen na Kenchiku (Natural Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho), Chii-sana Kenchiku (Small Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho) and many others.

His achievements and dedication to produce high quality, unique, and one of a kind architectural design are truly remarkable. And therefore, the Asia Cosmopolitan Awards is pleased to award the 5th ACA Cultural Prize to Prof. Kengo Kuma.

Memorial Prize

Lee O-young(1934–2022)

Achievements worthy of the award

Mr Lee was one of the most prominent figures to emerge from the post-war generation of Korean critics. He also served as the first Minister of Culture of the Republic of Korea.

He made his mark with his first piece of literary criticism, ‘Lee Sang non’ (On Lee Sang, 1955). He caused a stir in literary circles with his next essay,‘Usang eui pagoe’ (Destruction of an Idol, 1956). At a time when the war experience seemed to have devastated the literary imagination as well, he argued for the expansion and enrichment of Korean literature in articles that featured considerable rhetorical sophistication and verve.

He led cultural events such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with the theme of calling for the end of the Cold War. As Minister of Culture, he built the foundation of cultural policies by, amongst others, establishing the Korea National University of Arts.

As member of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum, he continuously preached the peaceful development of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, countries with similar cultural backgrounds.

He was a Selection Committee member of the first three Asia Cosmopolitan Awards, to which he contributed outstanding wisdom.

With his considerable academic knowledge, he widely influenced not only his country but also the rest of the world.

For his distinguished achievements to develop the cultural relationship amongst East Asian countries, the Memorial Prize of the 5th Asia Cosmopolitan Awards is awarded to Mr Lee O-young.

Memorial Prize

Dr Ponciano S. Intal, Jr. (1949–2019)

Achievements worthy of the award

Dr Ponciano S. Intal, Jr. obtained his PhD in Economics from Yale University in 1983. His fields of expertise were trade, investment, environment, and agriculture. Dr Intal wrote extensively on a wide range of Philippine and international economic issues, including Philippine agricultural pricing policy and agricultural research and development, agro-industrial restructuring, exchange rate policy, poverty and inclusive growth, trade and environment, and international trade policy and development cooperation related to the World Trade Organization, the ASEAN Free Trade Area, and the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation.

He joined the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in 2009 where he served as Senior Economist and Senior Policy Fellow. He was the lead coordinator of major ERIA projects on ASEAN, including ASEAN Rising, Framing the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Post-2015, Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burden of Regulations, and the joint ERIA–Philippine Government five-volume ASEAN@50 publication project to commemorate ASEAN’s 50th anniversary. He led projects on ASEAN Vision 2040, International Regulatory Cooperation for ASEAN, ASEAN Seamless Trade Facilitation Indicator and Trade Transactions Cost, and ASEAN Regulatory Management System Baseline Studies.

Prior to joining ERIA, Dr Intal was Full Professor at the Department of Economics and a University Fellow of De La Salle University (DLSU), Manila, Philippines. He started the DLSU–Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies and served as its Executive Director for nearly a decade, coordinating major research and advocacy projects.

Dr Intal was President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies from 1991 to 1998. He served as Director, Assistant Director-General, and Deputy Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 1988 to 1991. He held positions in cabinet-and ministry-level committees and presidential task forces of the Philippine Government and was a member of various governing boards and trustees. He served national and international agencies in various capacities.

His research reports were used by NEDA’s Congressional Commission on Agricultural Modernization, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, and United Nations Development Programme, amongst others.

An excellent policy researcher, rigorous in analysis and extremely insightful, Dr Intal provided highly useful and actionable policy recommendations and had a great ability to identify policy issues that would prove important to countries in the medium term. His intellectual expertise and personality drew researchers and policymakers, enabling him to establish large networks of researchers and policymakers and providing numerous opportunities for interactions amongst different stakeholders.

For his distinguished achievements to develop relationship amongst the East Asian countries, the Memorial Prize of the 5th Asia Cosmopolitan Awards is awarded to Dr Ponciano S. Intal, Jr.