The National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) launched the Application Form of the 27th Annual Export Awards at the Hotel Galadari, amidst a gathering of Council Members and Office Bearers of the NCE, selected Award Winners at the event last year, and special invitees.
The Annual Export Awards event to recognize, and reward excellence of Sri Lankan Exporters in international markets, is scheduled to be held in the Main Ballroom of the Hotel Shangri-La in Colombo.
This event was first held in 1993 to fill a void that prevailed due to the suspension of the Annual Presidential Awards conducted by the Export Development Board, has developed since then with substantial improvements affected each year to reach a high standard of professionalism, as the most looked-forward-to Business Event in Sri Lanka.
The evaluation of applicants for the selection of award winners has also developed from a simple process initially to reach the present high professional Standard. Accordingly, the final selection of Award Winners is carried out by an independent professional Panel of Judges, assisted by a separate Technical Committee of Experts in the various fields related to Exports. In 2016, the NCE entered into a Strategic Partnership with the well-known Multinational Audit Firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) to develop a ‘Strategic Plan’ for the Chamber for a period of 5 years. Along with the Strategic Plan, E&Y also assisted the Chamber to prepare an Operational Manual to make it highly professional in the delivery of services to Exporters.
Further, E&Y which provides Professional Consultancy, and Advisory Services in respect of many commercial aspects, to the Sri Lankan Corporate Sector, came on board in 2017 to assist the Chamber by providing professional inputs for the judging process of the Export Awards event, and as a facilitator to the Panel of Judges, to ensure transparency, and integrity in the selection of Award Winners, to enable benchmarking of this event with a high profile, and credibility among the Business Community in Sri Lanka, and especially Sri Lankan Exporters.
Accordingly, E&Y has been assisting the Chamber in providing professional inputs to the Awards event through a Collaborative Agreement. In 2018 E&Y entered into a separate Agreement with the Chamber, as it’s Strategic Knowledge Partner’.