The businessman behind De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s bid to transform Leicester Castle into a business school has been awarded Vietnam’s highest honour.
Dr Jonathan Choi, owner of the Sunwah Group, is one of DMU’s strongest supporters and has worked closely with the university through its links with the Sunwah International Business School in Liaoning University in mainland China.
AWARD: Dr Jonthan KS Choi (centre) with, from left, DMU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Collop, and Professor Cillian Ryan, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law
Now Dr Choi has been presented with The Friendship Order on behalf of the President of Vietnam by the Deputy Prime Minister, Pham Binh Minh, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Vietnam Government.
The order (Vietnamese: Huân chương Hữu ngh) is the highest honour that can be awarded to a non-Vietnamese citizen by the President.
It is given in recognition of the “great contribution to building, consolidating and developing the friendship between Vietnam and other countries in the world.”
It honours both Dr Choi’s and his Sunwah Corporation’s considerable efforts in Vietnam. Sunwah has invested in Vietnam for 45 years and is one of the country’s leading foreign corporations. The Sunwah Foundation, formed in 2007, has launched a raft of social, educational, arts and culture programmes in Vietnam.
DMU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Collop and Professor Cillian Ryan, Dean of Business and Law, attended the ceremony as guests of Dr Choi and the Vietnamese Government.
In February, DMU announced an innovative partnership between Sunwah, Leicester City Council and itself to open a proposed Dr Jonathan KS Choi Business School in Leicester Castle, parts of which date from the 11th century.
DMU academic staff have worked with the Sunwah International Business School since 2004 to prepare students to study in Leicester, resulting in more than 1,000 alumni working in China today with strong links to DMU and the city. Last year Dr Choi was awarded an honorary degree in recognition of his efforts to promote higher education and belief in public good.
Posted on Tuesday 14 April 2015