TONY TAN CAKTIONG

World Entrepreneur Of The Year

Fourth annual Ernst & Young event named Asian businessman Tony Tan Caktiong, head of Jollibee Foods Corporation, as 2004 World Entrepreneur Of The Year (WEOY) at an award ceremony held on 29 May in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Tan Caktiong was hailed the first Filipino Entrepreneur Of The Year at an awards banquet held last March 23, 2004 in Manila. Afterwards, he proudly accepted the WEOY award along with his family at Salle des Etoiles Terrace (Summer Sporting Club) in Monte Carlo.

Courtesy of Air France, Tan Caktiong was also accompanied by David Balangue, chairman of SGV & Co., the Philippine practice of Ernst & Young, and president of the SGV Foundation, the official organizer of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines program.

From modest beginnings as the owner of two ice cream parlors in Manila in the 1970's, Jollibee has grown to become one of the most admired and respected companies in Asia.

Jollibee Foods Corporation now employs 26,000 people in almost 1,000 outlets in seven countries, including the United States and China. In the Philippines, Jollibee commands 65% of the domestic fast food market, competing very successfully against established global brands.

In 1993, it became the first food service company to be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

In the ten years since, the company has been consistently profitable, reaching an annual turnover in 2003 of over 470 million euros.

Chairman of Ernst & Young, James S. Turley, said: "These awards are about celebrating global entrepreneurship and the desire to continually innovate and expand. Tony's story is a truly inspirational one, on both these counts. We are delighted he has been selected to receive this year's award."

Over the next five years Jollibee will continue to expand its presence in China and elsewhere, staying one step ahead of the competition by recognizing the requirements and tastes of local markets, and providing a high quality of service and product. As he says himself, Tony is Jollibee's toughest quality controller.

"Tony's success is due to his ability to innovate, to look ahead, and to build an exceptional brand," said Gregory K. Ericksen, Global Director of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program.

"The Jollibee indicator, based on the company's sales, is accepted as an unofficial measure of the health of the wider Filipino economy, and the company logo - a distinctive red bee - has become the Philippine national symbol of happiness."

The judges identified the ability of Jollibee to fund its own growth by reinvesting its profits. Tony still retains a 65% share of ownership. "This is a success story based on solid foundations, not a meteor that will burn itself out," said Howard Stevenson, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, and Chairman of the judging panel.

Tony was selected as the World Entrepreneur Of The Year from a field of 31 entrants - each of whom has been named Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) in national or regional programs run by Ernst & Young. Collectively, the 31 finalists in this year's WEOY awards program employ more than 375,000 people and represent approximately 23 billion euros in revenue. Continue below.

The panel of 9 judges - all of whom are past participants in the Entrepreneur Of The Year program in his or her country - chose Tan Caktiong as the recipient of the award based on written applications and meetings held throughout the course of the four-day event.

The WEOY program was established four years ago, and builds on Ernst & Young's 18 years of success in running national EOY programs. The EOY award was begun by Ernst & Young in the United States in 1986 to recognize entrepreneurs who had created and sustained successful, growing business ventures.

Since then, the program has grown throughout the world, expanding to six continents and more than 100 cities.

In the Philippines, the EOY program is organized by the SGV Foundation, along with its strategic partners - the Banker's Association of the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Stock Exchange, and the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration. The Philippine program has also been co-sponsored by CNN International, Air France, San Miguel Corporation, and BusinessWorld.

In 2003, Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited, headquartered in India, was named the World Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Other previous winners were Stefan Vilsmeier, President and CEO of BrainLAB AG, headquartered in Germany, in 2002, and Italian Paolo della Porta, President, Chariman ad Group CEO of Saes Getter S.P.A, in 2001.