Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited has been awarded the prestigious Asia Society Leadership Award, by the Asia Society, Washington DC.

Leo Daly, chairman, Asia Society Washington presented the award at a function held on May 20. Senator Hillary Clinton delivered the keynote address at the function.

Ambani thus joins a very distinguished group of previous awardees that include:

• Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,
• Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew,
• Former President of the Philippines Fidel Ramos,
• Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,
• Chief Secretary, Administration, Hong Kong, Anson Chan,
• US Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, and
• Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation Vance Coffman.

Ambani's award is a recognition of his exemplary contributions to the development of a modern Indian economy, seen as a crucial factor in the increasingly closer ties between India and the United States.

Founded in 1956 by John D Rockefeller III, the Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between the Americans and the people of Asia and the Pacific. Headquartered in New York, the Society has regional centres in Southern California, Texas, Washington DC and Northern California.

It is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organisation, which provides a forum for building awareness of more than 30 Asia-Pacific countries -- from Japan to Iran, and from Central Asia to New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands -- through art exhibitions, performances, films, lectures, seminars, conferences and programs. The Asia Society also houses a museum in New York, dedicated to Asian art and culture.

Founded by Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) Reliance is India's largest business house with total revenues of Rs 80,000 crore ($ 16.8 billion), cash profit of over Rs 9,800 crore ($ 2.1 billion), net profit of over Rs 4,700 crore ($ 990 million) and exports of Rs 11,900 crore ($ 2.5 billion).

The group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, polymers, and intermediates), textiles, financial services and insurance, power, telecom and infocom initiatives.

Ambani is currently involved in rolling out India's largest and most complex information and communications technology infrastructure and solutions in the form of Reliance Infocomm Limited.

Ambani is also steering Reliance's initiatives in a world scale, offshore, deep water oil and gas exploration and production program, a pan-India petroleum retail network involving 5,800 outlets and a research-led life sciences initiative covering medical, plant and industrial biotechnology.