Export Awards in November

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The 19th Annual Export Awards ceremony will be held on September 17 at Hilton Colombo.

"The exporters are a breed of people who should be given encouragement and opportunity to celebrate as they perform in a changing and challenging environment despite the disturbance in global economy.

We are now reaping the peace dividends and need to sustain the export growth momentum," National Chamber of Exporters President Sarath De Silva said.

"The unrest in the Middle East and the crisis in the West brings about uncertainty in the market as these are our prime food and tea markets. However, Sri Lankan exporters are capable of overcoming any global challenge," he said.

"The efforts of exporters to survive and reach out to government's call to meet the export targets are commendable.

"The country has achieved US $ 9 billion mark and confident that US $ 20 billion target could be reached by 2020. "The past award ceremonies have recognized over 1,000 exporters and the annual export award ceremony is a glamorous event in the exporter's calendar. This is a unique opportunity to showcase the exporter spirit where they are the mirror nurturing local skills and global competence. It is timely to promote and recognize organizations that positively contribute to the national economy," he said. The task of the Panel of Judges is a difficult task as it needs to evaluate the performance of the organizations that is related to international arena. They are all winners regardless of they becoming the award winners, Panel of Judges Chairman Eardley Perera said.

The winners will be selected under five categories including export volume and value, value addition and market and product development.

It is necessary to recognize these exporters who have to perform under a volatile, vulnerable scenario to achieve results due to their ability, desire and guts, he said.

These organizations work hard to promote Sri Lanka on the global map and their ability to sustain and the capability to continue in a changing environment needs recognition. Those selected were the ones who have achieved their goals and set benchmark for others to follow, Perera said.

There have been 186 applications for this year recording a 15 percent growth over the last year's number of applicants.