Kuala Lumpur – Astro took home an award in the Investment in People category at the prestigious Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards (AREA) 2010 for its outstanding commitment to corporate responsibility and personal development of its people. Dato’ Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRO said, “At Astro we aspire to enrich the lives of Malaysians. We aim to go beyond to delight our customers and improve lives in communities that we serve. As a present and contributing corporate citizen, Astro encourages its employees to lend their time, expertise and concern for the benefit of the community via various corporate responsibility activities, through Astro Kasih, an employee volunteer programme.” Since its inception in August 2009, employees from all over the country have contributed more than 11,000 hours via 210 Astro Kasih’s community outreach initiatives including educational, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation and occupational safety programmes. “We are both humbled and pleased that Astro Kasih’s and our employees’ efforts have been recognized via this Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards (AREA) 2010. Astro will remain steadfast in encouraging employee volunteerism to empower Astro employees with a sense of ownership, belonging and personal responsibility,” added Dato’ Rohana Rozhan. Organized by Enterprise Asia, AREA honours programs that demonstrate leadership, sincerity and on-going commitment in corporate responsibility, community engagement and transparency. Companies are evaluated based on corporate best practices in their involvement and engagement in communities as well as the protection of the environment. The winners of AREA were decided by an international advisory panel on both quantitative and qualitative criteria of the enterprise. The enterprises must demonstrate evidence of sustained business growth, as well as emphasis on their belief and action in supporting responsible entrepreneurship and the initiatives taken to promote compassionate and responsible entrepreneurship.