Award For Former Malaysian Minister From German-Based Association

By Manik Mehta BONN, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- Former Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz has been named as a recipient of an award to be conferred by the German-Malaysian Association based in Wachtberg-Pech near Bonn. The award will be presented to her Friday at the Malaysian Embassy in Berlin. Achim G. Deja, who is the president of the association, told Bernama here that the award was being conferred on Rafidah for her "outstanding contribution toward promoting understanding between Germany and Malaysia". Deja, who is the president and chief executive of a company called Tima GmbH and has maintained ties with Malaysia, said the award was an acknowledgement of Rafidah's "untiring efforts to promote mutual understanding in order to achieve a prosperous economy and welfare of the people of Malaysia and Germany". "The prize is given to personalities who have in their sphere of influence and circle of friends contributed to transparency and verification. We found that during her term as minister of international trade and industry, Rafidah demonstrated that she made efforts towards 'bridge building' with German companies and helped them in many sectors," Deja explained. Rafidah's efforts in espousing the cause of women and raising the visibility on issues of concern to women, were laudable, according to Deja. "Her action matched her words," he added. Another recipient of the "DtMG Award 2011" will be Helmut Baur, chairman and CEO of Binder Optik AG, a member of the executive committee of the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Industries and Malaysia's honorary consul general for the federal German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. The awards ceremony on Friday at the Malaysian Embassy in Berlin will also be accompanied by a cultural programme and a reception in honour of the recipients of the awards. Malaysian ambassador to Germany, Ibrahim Abdullah, will welcome the guests. -- BERNAMA