is amongst the top 50 leaders in a major French hypermarket chain store of half a million associates. He leads more than 25,000 associates with sales exceeding SGD$2 billion.

From a management trainee to one of the top posts in Carrefour, Shafie Shamsudin's excellent corporate achievement has earned him the prestigious Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award 2010.

Shafie will receive the award from Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore.

The annual award by Singapore Press Holdings' Malay daily, Berita Harian, is in its twelfth year and honours Malay/ Muslim individuals for their achievements in the fields of education, business, arts, and culture, sports, the professions and social work.

The qualities that the judging panel looks for include perseverance, determination, the ability to overcome odds and outstanding integrity. Above all, individuals who are role models for the Malay/ Muslim community in Singapore.

The winner is picked by a panel of seven judges drawn from the Malay/ Muslim community.

Shafie began working as a trainee for Carrefour upon graduation in 1996 and went on to become the chain's first non-Frenchman to hold the top position.

In his first nine years at the company, Shafie was promoted five times, including taking charge of the bazaar section of the supermarket's chain in Suntec City.

During his stint managing the sales of items such as home appliances, toys and DIY products, Carrefour bazaar sales jumped two fold, compared to other Carrefour bazaars.

In 2002, he made history by becoming the first Asian expatriate staff from Carrefour when he was posted to Indonesia as the Non Food Merchandise Manager for 10 Hypermarkets.

Within a year was promoted to the position of Store Director, the second highest post in the hypermart hierarchy before his appointment as Managing Director (MD) Carrefour Singapore Pte Ltd in September 2005.

In January the following year, he was also given the responsibility of managing Carrefour Malaysia, where he managed all of Carrefour's eight stores in Malaysia and two in Singapore which had a combined workforce of more than 8,600 employees.

Past years' winners of the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year award include: Professor Aziz Nather, director at the Tissue Bank and consultant with the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NUS; Madam Halimah Yacob, Assistant Secretary General of NTUC; master potter Mr Iskandar Jalil; veteran composer Mr Iskandar Mirza Ismail and Mr Ashley Isham, young fashion designer.