CNCI to recognise business excellence

by Sapumali GALAGODA

The 10th CNCI Achiever Awards will be held on August 30 in Colombo, said Chairman Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) Sunil Liyanage.

Chairman CNCI Sunil Liyanage, Deputy Chairman CNCI Preethi Jayawardena, MD /CEO Ceylinco Insurance Ajith Gunawardena and Secretary General/CEO CNCI Kumara Kandalama unveil the award. Pic: Sulochana Gamage

The main objectives of the awards are to recognise and reward Sri Lankan manufacturing and industrial enterprises who demonstrated and achieved excellence in their operations, encourage Sri Lankan enterprises to enhance their operations in the SAARC countries as well as to strengthen bilateral relations between SAARC countries and Sri Lanka.

With the dawn of peace we expect a larger amount of applications. The selection criteria has been fine tuned over the years.

Liyanage said that the Achiever Awards are a bench mark for industrial excellence in the country due to high quality evaluation procedures adopted by the chamber.

All enterprises in industrial and services sectors as well as enterprises in the SAARC region nominated by the respective chambers can apply for the awards which are given in the categories of extra large, large, medium, small and micro. In addition there are two awards for Jaffna and Batticaloa based enterprises.

The evaluation criteria for applications include turnover, value addition, productivity and responsibilities towards employees, growth and future, research & development, quality assurance, environmental responsibilities, health and safety as well as social responsibility.

Initially the applications are evaluated and short listed by the internal judging committee. Then the external judging committee comprising independent and eminent personalities in the public and private sector review the short listed applications, conduct interviews, inspect the factories or offices and select the winners.

Applications will close on June 15 and there will be provincial and national awards. Each category will have a gold, silver, bronze, and a merit award winner.

An enterprise who has won a gold award at national level for two consecutive years in the extra large category is eligible for the crystal award.

A special feature of the CNCI Achiever Awards is the recognition of local industrialists who have set up manufacturing units in the SAARC region on their own or as a joint venture where the Sri Lankan investment is over 50 percent.

In addition enterprises in each of the SAARC countries recommended by their trade chambers and assessed by the judging panel on the same evaluation criteria are selected as winners. This facilitation supports bilateral cooperation and encourages business delegations from the SAARC region to visit Sri Lanka to promote joint ventures.

The main sponsor of the event is Ceylinco Insurance while Bank of Ceylon is a sponsor. The media sponsors are ANCL and ITN.