NCE awards ceremony in October

Export Awards: The National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) conducted an Awareness Seminar for prospective applicants for Export Awards based on their export performance in 2005.

The Awards Ceremony, which will be held by the Chamber on 31st October 2006 for the 14th consecutive year, recognizes and rewards export excellence of Sri Lankan Exporters.

The NCE which is the only Chamber set-up exclusively to serve Exporters has over the years, succeeded in making this event very popular as it is the only event in Sri Lanka which recognizes and motivates Sri Lankan exporters to achieve greater excellence in the field of Exports.

The Awareness Seminar was chaired by Kingsley Bernard, the immediate past President of the NCE and the Chairman of the Awards Committee. Executive Director of the NCE, Rasa Weerasingham,- Chairman of the Panel of Judges, Nalin Attygalle, Chairman, Sri Lanka Auditing Standard Committee, Lal Nanayakkara,- Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies Dr Saman Kelegama and Director, Member Services/Special Projects of the NCE L. S. G. Tillekeratne also participated.

Director, Member Services and Special Projects of the NCE, Tillekeratne, made a presentation explaining to prospective applicants the various issues which needed elaboration to facilitate the proper preparation and presentation of their applications.

This was followed by a question and answer session by the panel to clarify queries of exporters. Kingsley Bernard summed up the proceedings in his concluding remarks. A large number of prospective applicants were present at this Awareness Seminar.

Since last year, the Chamber has opened the doors of for this event to non member exporters in addition to its own members in recognition of its commitment to motivate all exporters to achieve higher levels of export performance carrying valuable foreign exchange for the country as Sri Lanka is an export led economy.

This year, the Chamber will recognize export excellence in three broad categories, Export of Products, Export of Services and Service Providers to Exporters.

In the Product Sector category, the Awards will be made to Agriculture (Bulk), Agriculture (Value-added). Tea (Bulk), Tea (Value-added), Quota Garments, Non-Quota Garments, Mineral Products, Gems & Jewellery, Information Technology and other Industrial categories

In the Export of Services category, the Awards will be made to Consultancy services covering, Accountancy services, other Financial services, Legal services, Educational services, Medical services, Tourism related services.

A noteworthy feature in this year's Awards is the recognition of Export of Services as a major category, as it is an area, which has very high growth prospects, especially for developing countries like Sri Lanka.