Closing date for Industrial Excellence awards extended

The closing date for applications for the Achiever of Industrial Excellence 2006 awards ceremony has been extended till July 7. It is organised by the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) for the fifth consecutive year to honour and appreciate manufacturers who contribute directly and indirectly to the economy.

There will be special awards for manufacturers from Ampara and Puttalam Districts as these districts have been identified by the chamber as developing districts.

A company engaged in manufacturing for three consecutive years and located in Sri Lanka or in a SAARC country is eligible to apply. An entrepreneur can make an application under micro (investment less than or equal to Rs one million), Small industries (investment over one million and up to 20 million), Medium Industries (More than Rs 20 million and up to Rs 50 million) and large industries (over Rs 50 million).

There will be provincial awards, national awards, awards for Sri Lankan companies operating in SAARC countries and SAARC country awards where entrepreneurs from SAARC countries are also honoured.

The main sponsor is Janashakthi Insurance. Chairman, Organising Committee Newton Wickramasuriya said that they have already sent applications to the regional chambers while applications are also available at over 100 Janashakthi Insurance branches.

The objectives of the award scheme are promoting best business practices, improving productivity and efficiency. The application form has been designed with these objectives and therefore has to be supported with documents.

Taking part in the competition is education in itself. Entrepreneurs have to know best practices by reading the application in the previous years and have implemented them and obtained good results.

Deputy General Manager Sales and Marketing Janashakthi Insurance Ravi Liyanage said that Janashakthi has been associated with CNCI for a long time. He said that they are happy to be associated with CNCI for the Achiever of Industrial Excellence as the awards honour and recognise industrialists.

The awards will foster good management practices in the areas of employment generation and value addition to the economy, quality assurance in the respective industry, responsibility towards the environment, research and development to foster innovation, ethical conduct of a company by statutory obligation and the Corporate Social Responsibility of a company, Liyanage said.