Cape Town – JSE Limited-listed Aspen Pharmacare (APN), South Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, was presented with the Economic Diplomacy (Africa) Award by the South African Government at the prestigious 4th annual Ubuntu Awards, held in Cape Town on 22 March 2018.
Accepting the award from Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of International Relations and Cooperations (“Dirco”) on behalf of Aspen Pharmacare, Stavros Nicolaou, Senior Executive – Strategic Trade Development, said, “We are extremely humbled to have been considered as worthy recipients of the Economic Diplomacy (Africa) Award. Our ongoing commitment to manufacturing excellence, cutting edge technologies, scientific development and our significant skills and competency investment in our people, has led to Aspen becoming South Africa’s most globalized company. It is particularly pleasing that we are now ranked globally as the leading supplier of anaesthetics outside of the USA and the second largest global supplier of injectable thrombosis products, both in complex, and high value added technologies. We have never forgotten our South African roots and continue to make significant manufacturing investments in our country, continuously expanding both our domestic and export capability.”
Clayson Monyela, the Deputy Director General of DIRCO said, “The criteria for winning this category of award are stringent and the competition was particularly stiff this year. Accordingly, on behalf of DIRCO, we wish to congratulate Aspen, a company that was born in the post 1994 democratic era, for achieving this accolade. The Group has excelled in the area of Economic Diplomacy and has made meaningful contributions to social development, economic growth and transformation in our country, all of which are important criteria for winning this award.”
Nicoloau concluded, “While this award recognizes the present, we look forward to working with our multiple partners and stakeholders, which include South African Government, in uplifting disadvantaged communities through our numerous socio-economic enhancement programmes in the fields of healthcare and education and continuing to contribute to much needed economic growth, development and job creation in our country.”
The award is determined through a public nomination process, followed by open voting, comprising Government departments, corporates and the general public. The companies with the highest number of votes are then adjudicated by an esteemed panel of South African judges.
The criteria used for voting, and the criteria which determines the ultimate winner, includes contribution to South African growth and job creation, good corporate citizenship and governance, contributions to social development and societal transformation and alignment to our country’s National Development Plan (NDP).
Some 600 guests attended the Ubuntu Awards that celebrate excellence in diplomacy and honour individuals and companies that positively projected South Africa’s image through excellence in their chosen fields.