"[11] Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of the Emirates Group, said, "I am very glad that the UAE is participating at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards, an event that celebrates Asia as a whole.

Some awardees included Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain; Chua Sock Koong, CEO of Singtel; Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals; and William E. Heinecke, CEO and chairman of Minor International.

[17] It honoured Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, chairwoman of the General Women's Union and the Family Development Foundation of the UAE, and president of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

[29] In 2019, in partnership with CNBC Arabia, Malini N. Menon launched the ABLF Talks TV series, featuring Asian government and business leaders in three-minute episodes across six leadership themes.

[30][31] IEDEA serves as a strategic partner[32] to Dubai Cares, which works towards providing children and young people in developing countries access to quality education through the design and funding of programmes.

[49] According to Malini N. Menon, "We are particularly interested in creating and nurturing a sustainable forum that explores public–private partnership in Education & HRD in the context of the exciting changes taking in both the UAE and India.

"[50] Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, after receiving the ABLF Lifetime Achievement Award, said, "This forum has truly demonstrated the power of the term—Stronger Together—and shows the true spirit of emerging Asia—cohesive, collaborative and most importantly visionary".

[54] On 20 December 2013, Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, formed the OneAsia2020 initiative, in partnership with the ABLF Series, in the hope of fostering diplomacy in the region and laying the groundwork to solve some of Asia's biggest social and political issues.