Hong Kong's 10 top companies was presented Tuesday with awards honoring their ranking in the Review 200: Asia's Leading Companies, the Far East Economic Review 's survey.

The 10 top leading companies in Hong Kong in 1998-1999 are Cheung Kong (Holding), Mass Transit Railway, Hutchison Whampoa, Hang Seng Bank, HongKong Telecom, Sun Hung Kai Properties, 7-Swine Pacific, Shangri-La Asia, Cathay Pacific Airways and Mandarin Oriental.

The awarded companies include the top 10 leading companies in Thailand in 1998-1999 and the top 10 multinational companies doing business in Asia in 1998-1999.

Cheung Kong, Farmers Bank and Microsoft were selected the Number One in their respective grouping, each exemplifying the resilience, strategic vision, operational excellence and speed of execution that are required for leadership in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, who is also the director-general-designate of the World Trade Organization (WTO), shared with the ranked companies some of his thinking and observations regarding the world's multilateral trading system and the globalization process.

"In Asia, I have faith in the vast pool of entrepreneurial talents with proven track records in achieving success and overcoming difficulties and even crises, and Asian businesses will be equal to whatever challenges posed by the evolving world trade system", the Thailand minister said.

The Review 200 is the magazine's annual readership survey that ranks which companies in Asia best exemplify qualities of corporate leadership, and the top 200 companies are comprised of 110 Asian companies and 90 Asia-based multinationals companies that do business in Asia.

The annual survey allows each respondents to rank companies on five leadership qualities: high-quality services and products, innovation in responding to customer needs, long-term vision, financial soundness and being a company that others try to emulate. More than 4,000 business decision-makers participated in the 1999-2000 Review 200 survey, according to the magazine.