Archives

Ten young Southern entrepreneurs were felicitated for their commitment and dedication at the Shell LiveWIRE Regional "Young Business Start-UP Awards" (YBSA) ceremony at the Peacock Beach Hotel in Hambantota recently. It was organised in collaboration with LiveWIRE's regional partner, the Hambantota district Chamber of Commerce (HDCC).

H. W. Hemantha Kumara Priyadharshi, proprietor of "Thushara Printers" in Middeniya, along with Karunasena Amaraweera Pathirana, owner of "Pathum Renters and Caterers" in Tangalle, were chosen as finalists for the National LiveWIRE awards scheduled to be held in August 2002. Hemantha and Karunasena beat eight others to make it into the National finals. They said they were looking forward to competing with young entrepreneurs from other parts of the island, and added that the competition in Hambantota was very tough. Over Rs. 400,000, in prizes will be on offer at this year's National YBSA competition, with the winner receiving a substantial cash prize, free publicity, and vital networking business links.

Shell LiveWIRE Trust, a community investment initiative of Shell Sri Lanka, aimed at encouraging youth entrepreneurship in the island is conducting the third Shell LiveWIRE Young Business start up Awards 2002 at the Galadari Hotel. The Shell LiveWIRE YBS Awards is an awards program targeting young people in business.

Asmi Thassim, Director General of the HDCC outlined the Chamber's longstanding relationship with the LiveWIRE program, locally and internationally. "I am pleased that the first ever LiveWIRE regional awards are being held in Hambantota, as Hambantota is one of the areas that was surveyed during the feasibility study for the LiveWIRE program in Sri Lanka," Mr. Thassim said.

Tilar Nadugala, President of the HDCC explained how important it was to have competitive events such as LiveWIRE Awards in a district such as Hambantota which is plagued by high unemployment. "Today we visited the stalls of some of the finalists and saw that among them, there are several qualified degree holders; this is very promising in the light of the large number of unemployed graduates in our district," he said. Mr. Nadugala said that young entrepreneurs should made use of organisations such as Shell LiveWIRE and the District Chamber of Commerce in order to develop their entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.

Mr. Thassim and Mr. Nadugala, as well as LiveWIRE's Project Manager Piyumi Samaraweera stressed of the importance of like-minded organisations working together in the field of youth enterprise to create a synergy which would inevitably benefit the end users. LiveWIRE's Project Director Steven Bartholomeusz said that by participating in competitions such as the LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Awards, young entrepreneurs would become more adept at facing a market that became increasingly competitive.

Regional competitions will enable more regional representation and also provide more opportunities for regional start up businesses to compete in this competition. The regions are grouped based on the provinces and encompass all nine provinces in the country. Though the regional finalists were given an opportunity to display their wares in a 6' by 6' stall provided by LiveWIRE, they were allocated points based exclusively on the soundness of their businessplan, and a face-to-face interview with three judges on an individual-basis. The business plans included a summary of the business, an analysis of the market the business has entered, a marketing plan, details of costing and pricing, a cash flow statement and a profit and loss account.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager