Western Province ‘Entrepreneur Awards 2018’concludes successfully

Bopitiya Auto Enterprises Chairman Jude Rodrigowho adjudged as Best Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 receiving the award from NEDA Chairman Daskshitha Bogollagama. WUSC Country Director Esther McIntosh and National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka President Sujeewa Samaraweera

The vital role in education is to change economies and entrepreneurs to do better and be more productive, said Esther McIntosh, Country Director, and World University Service of Canada (WUSC) at the third Western Province ‘Entrepreneur Awards 2018’ recently.

The event was organised by National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka along with the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA).

WUSA is also aggressively focusing on the post secondary education and to date has trained over 30,000 Sri Lankan youth to join the work workforceAccording to Sujeeve Samaraweera, President, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Western province is the fast-moving province in the island. 

Along with the numerous facilities available, the province has successfully achieved the highest profits, business and competition.

NEDA and the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka have been assisting micro, medium, small and large sectors in the region for a long time. They give a special focus towards the upliftment of these sectors in the country to develop their businesses. Training programs are also conducted for them including differently-abled entrepreneurs.

This award scheme is designed to distinguish, reward and motivate Sri Lanka’sentrepreneurs to reach the mantle of achievement. It also encourages micro and SMEs in the Western Province to improve their standards of business practices and achieve a higher level of entrepreneurship.

“People need to be job creators not job seekers,” said NEDA Chairman Dakshitha Bogollagama. 

He also said that even though only 16% university opportunities are available, the rest needs to focus on creating new jobs, which in turn would support the country’s’ economy. However successive changes in government and policies hinder the development of the country. Accordingly finding the right market and packaging are the biggest issues with business people. Hence business processes needs to be developed to suit the new trends. Also mechanisms should be there to ease the business procedures.

“We have to get examples from other countries, their business strategies and tactics,” he added. Entrepreneurship is a key factor to be developed in terms of financing and marketing.