YEA Awards 2012:

Young entrepreneurs of tomorrow

Winner,Keeriwala Gamage Sujani for project Kithul Corner receiving her cash prize

Second Runner Up,Group application (Yapage Viraj Madusanka) for project Carbon Nano Tubes(CNT) with their cash prize

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Youth Enterprise Awards (YEA) 2012 presented by the British Council (BC) was held at Hilton Colombo recently amidst distinguished guests including Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education Sri Lanka,Dr Sunil Nawaratne, Country Director BC Sri Lanka,Tony Reilly and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives,Nick Nicolaou.

The winners of this year’s YEA finale are: (1) Winner: Keeriwala Gamage Sujani for project Kithul Corner (2) First Runner Up : Group application (Kurukulasooriyage Danuka Dilshan Perera) for project U-grow and (3) Second Runner Up: Group application (Yapage Viraj Madusanka) for project Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) .

CEO HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives,Nick Nicolaou said, “We are delighted by the enthusiasm and the ideas presented by these young contestants. It is encouraging for all of us to see how their education and natural habitat has presented them with ideas and opportunities that are commercially viable. I congratulate them all. It is the youth of Sri Lanka who will now have the task of steering the country towards economic development, and this platform fits well with their aspirations and national agenda, hence we are happy to have gathered around for the second consecutive year to recognise and reward the young entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

The winning idea “Kithul Corner” was presented by Keeriwala Gamage Sujani who walked away with a reward of Rs. 500,000/- as seed capital to further her idea into a potential business. Having hailed from an area that is famous for Kithul products; Deniyaya, her idea was to create a one stop shop for sweet meats and ornamental handicrafts made out of kithul and Kithul timber, thereby creating a centre of excellence for “Kithul” based produce by engaging the local community.

“Kithul Corner” her business centre situated in Deniyaya under the theme of ‘Dealing with Nature’ promises to offer a one stop shop for Kithul based produce and offer both local and foreign tourists a true eco friendly experience.

Project U-grow, having emerged first runner up presented the judges with an idea of a system that is capable of forecasting the optimal production plan for farmers, mostly in the field of vegetable and fruit cultivation. It also contains a website which offers all the latest techniques and knowledge required for farming hence creating a neural network of information.

As a result, farmers will be able to identify best production capabilities through seasonal tuning whilst considering other factors such as weather, soil, geography, demand etc. The team received a cash reward of Rs.200,000 as seed capital.

The second runner up, Project Carbon Nano Tubes, presented an idea and the key presenter said “Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) from Sri Lankan vein graphite (The only vein graphite in the world).

The market share for CNT is $ 2.1 billion per year and it is 28% from the world’s nano products. We have 99.9 pure raw materials (graphite) in Kahatagaha and Bogala mines. Due to its strength and very good electric conducting capacity, CNT could be applied to many applications from tennis rackets to computer nano processors (electrical circuits, electrical cables and wires, paper batteries, Solar Cells, Hydrogen Storage, Ultra capacitors, Radar Absorption) and can become a high potential business in future technology.

We can also look at having patent rights and be the only CNT producer from Sri Lankan vein graphite. We hope producing CNT in Sri Lanka will open many industrial opportunities and could be termed as a multi-million Dollar business, with market domination due to the unique and pure raw materials.”The team received a cash reward of Rs. 100,000/- for further development.

Country Director BC,Tony Reilly said, “Some say that successful entrepreneurs are born, not made. Others disagree, saying good entrepreneurship is a talent that can be learned and nurtured. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Governments increasingly consider entrepreneurship and innovation to be the cornerstones of a competitive national economy.

This is certainly true for both Sri Lanka and the UK. And Universities have a key role to play in nurturing next generation entrepreneurs. The HSBC-British Council Youth Enterprise Awards, now in their second year, set out to identify and nurture entrepreneurial talent within Sri Lanka’s universities.”

The Youth Enterprise Awards which is a business plan contest got underway in April 2010 with the aim of recognising young aspiring entrepreneurs and supporting them to start and grow their businesses.

The competition was open to postgraduate students, undergraduates and students aged 16 to 26 years representing universities, private higher education institutions, technical and vocational institutions and professional training bodies in Sri Lanka.