NCE renews collaborative agreement with Ernst & Young at 27th Export Awards application launch

The National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) officially launched the application form of the 27th Annual Export Awards at the Hotel Galadari on 16 May, 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 recognise, and reward excellence of Sri Lankan exporters in international markets, is scheduled to be held on 20 September, in the Main Ballroom of the Hotel Shangri-La in Colombo.  

This event which had humble beginnings 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 effected 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 five 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 providing professional inputs to the awards event through a collaborative agreement. The Council of the Chamber in appreciation of the valuable services provided by E&Y, to make the awards event transparent and ethical in all aspects related to the judging process for the selection of award winners in a fair manner conforming to high professional standards, renewed the collaborative agreement at the launch of the application form in respect of the awards to be held this year.     

In 2018 E&Y entered into a separate agreement with the Chamber, as its ‘Strategic Knowledge Partner’.