APE Awards 2013

Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship (APE) Awards 2013 organised by Enterprise Asia will be held in Sri Lanka for the second consecutive year on February 17, 2013 at the Cinnamon Grand.

Country Director of Enterprise Asia, Ananda Rajapaksa said that this award gives international recognition and is a regional platform for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs. Awards are given under seven categories: entrepreneur of the year, women entrepreneur of the year, young entrepreneur of the year, special achievement award, outstanding entrepreneurship awards, most promising entrepreneurship awards and emerging entrepreneurship awards, he said.

The Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award is a regional benchmark and is a prestigious award in the region. It honours enterprising men and women from each country who have shown entrepreneurial spirit, while not neglecting the social responsibilities that are associated with business leadership.

An international panel of judges will select the winners based on regional company evaluation benchmark and shortlist it on a computer generated marking scheme and company visit by a technical team from Enterprise Asia.

Sri Lanka’s event is open only to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, Sri Lankan public companies; Sri Lanka based foreign direct investment companies, government corporations, and private enterprises.

Rajapaksa said that this year the financial turnover criteria has been reduced for emerging entrepreneurship awards to allow SMEs to participate. SMEs are the backbone of the economy.

“We have good companies in Sri Lanka. For a country to develop there should be an enterprise ecosystem. Society, the country and the economy should support them and this is happening in Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam. We have to create that kind of environment in Sri Lanka,” he said.

The principal sponsor of the event is the NDB Bank. The Daily News and the Sunday Observer are the print media sponsors.

Chief Operating Officer of NDB Indrajit Wickramasinghe said, “NDB’s involvement in the APEA awards as the principal sponsor establishes the bank’s commitment towards recognising Sri Lankan entrepreneurs.”

“Having partnered the first ever APEA awards in Sri Lanka last year, we witnessed the success stories of twenty three individuals in diverse sectors such as tea, rubber, metal, jewellery, motor, electric, financial services, petroleum and ICT who were honoured for their enterprising spirit in their respective fields.” -GW