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SAN FRANCISCO - 05/07/04 The non-profit California-Asia Business Council (Cal- Asia) will present its 2004 New Silk Road Award to businessman and entrepreneur Washington Sycip at its tenth annual Asia Night gala May 14 in San Francisco.

An internationally-known expert on trade with Asia, particularly China, Sycip (left) founded Asia's SGV Group, which became the region's largest auditing and professional services firm and also serves as Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange's Asian Advisory Council.

Sycip - known as the "Wise Owl" of Asian business - will travel from Manila to receive the award, according to Richard Chong, chairman of Asia Night and Managing Director of the venture capital firm Paclink Ventures.

"Mr. Sycip is being honored for his role over six decades in helping to develop reliability and standardization in financial reporting," he said. 

"He is widely credited with bringing consistency, transparency and professionalism to the Asian operations of California firms, to California investors in the Asian financial markets, and to Asian-owned companies," said Chong. "This work was fundamental to the expansion of trans-Pacific investment and trade, and for Asian economies to flourish."

The New Silk Road award is a 17th-18th Century gold-embroidered silk panel contributed by London-based Linda Wrigglesworth Chinese Costumes and Textiles.

Last year's Award was accepted by Cal-Asia Chairman Emeritus Dr. Daniel K. H. Chao, chairman of Bechtel China in Shanghai.

The Asia Night 2004 event will be held at the Herbst Pavilion in San Francisco's Fort Mason, with huge decorative "earth art" banners created by San Francisco artist Pop Zhao.

"Asia Night will be the first US showing of Zhao's colorful Olympic Dragon banners," said Cal-Asia President, Elizabeth Y.A. Ferguson. "Several miles of these banners were paraded along China's Great Wall, helping China win its bid to host the Olympics in 2008."

According to Ferguson, who also serves as executive vice president of the Bay Area Council in San Francisco, other original banners by Zhao have "wrapped" the new Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, as well as Staten Island in New York.

More on the event and registration is available by calling the California-Asia Business Council at 510-523-8188 or by visiting its website at www.CalAsia.org

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