UOB receives banking award at HKB IBA 2019 for its enterprising art programme

UOB Art Academy makes the community thrive through art whilst driving business sustainability.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) won in the banking category at the Hong Kong Business International Business Awards 2019 for its enterprising art programme. Headquartered in Singapore with over 80 years of history, UOB has been a long-term supporter of art in the region. The bank has been supporting art since the 1970s by collecting artworks in Singapore as a way to support local artists. Nowadays, the UOB Art Collection has grown to more than 2,500 pieces. Since 1982, the UOB has launched the Painting of the Year Competition in Singapore. The annual competition has now been extended to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

In Hong Kong, UOB has set up the UOB Art Academy with an aim to make art more accessible to the community, nurture local artistic talents and rejuvenate the cultural heritage. It offers art outreach programmes and annual art competitions, as well as collaborates with various art initiatives, including a leading international art fair called Art Central, in order to deepen its commitment to promoting art in the community.

Since 2017, UOB has been in partnership with Art Central as the Lead Partner. The partnership is a testament to both organisations’ shared goal of developing the local art scene in Hong Kong and encouraging cultural inclusion of the wider community. It builds upon the success of UOB’s art and cultural engagement programmes in Hong Kong and inspires more people in the community to take up art and to appreciate it.

The UOB Art Academy is seen as a breakthrough as it not only fulfils UOB’s corporate social responsibility, which focuses on art, children and education, but also serves as an enabler to engage its stakeholders, including business partners, art partners, employees and the wider community. Over the past 4 years, over 40,000 people, including children, were engaged in UOB Art Academy’s initiatives.

“UOB has been actively supporting art across Asia for more than four decades. We are glad to see that our art programmes under the UOB Art Academy are well received by the stakeholders and help foster the development of contemporary art in the community. Business takes commitment, like art. Our on-going efforts underscore our long-term commitment to the community and hence things around us will continue to thrive,” said Christine Ip, CEO of UOB Greater China.

The HKB International Business Awards, presented by Hong Kong Business, was held on 27 August 2019 at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong.

This year’s nominees were judged by a panel consisting of Charbon Lo, Director at Crowe (HK) CPA Limited; Anthony Tam, Executive Director in Tax Services at Mazars Hong Kong; Andy Wong, IPO Leader at SHINEWING (HK) CPA Limited; Edward Au, Co-Leader of the National Public Offering Group & Partner, Audit & Assurance at Deloitte; Eugene Liu, Managing Partner at RSM Hong Kong.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be hailed as one of the most outstanding international companies in Hong Kong, please email eleonor@charltonmediamail.com