Ceylon Chamber’s ‘Sustainability’ seminar attracts wide interest

Tuesday, 29 July 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Both public quoted and privately owned corporate entities took part in the recent seminar organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to create awareness about its upcoming Best Corporate Citizens Sustainability Award 2014. The speakers at the seminar, comprising members of the evaluation panel, explained to the audience the importance of taking part in this annual competition and guided the participants on the content to be included, the process of applying and presentation of the application. They emphasised that companies applying for the awards can learn a lot on how to improve the company’s performance on the areas that are covered in the application such as environmental compliance, development of the human resources, resource use, product-market development etc. in addition to gaining recognition through winning awards. Applying for the awards provides a platform for corporates to go for continuous improvement, as each year the application forms are reviewed by the Chamber to incorporate new concepts and developments in the areas that are assessed. Speaking during the occasion, Rajendra Theagarajah, Deputy Vice Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, who chaired the event, said the competition has grown from strength to strength, since its commencement 11 years ago.

The annual competition assesses the sustainability initiatives taken by the corporate firms covering the areas of Environment, Employee, Customer, Community Relations, CSR, Governance, Finance Performances and Economic Contribution. The winner will take away the “Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2014,’ while awards will also be given to the ‘Best Ten Corporate’ firms. Many more category awards and Sustainability pillar awards have also been lined up. This year, the Chamber will also award sector based best performers, such as the ones involved in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Banking & Finance, Non Financial Services and Diversified sectors. ‘The Best Presented Application’ will also be awarded for its hard work and creativity. Under Best Sustainability Projects, the Chamber will recognise the exemplary projects carried out by companies on many areas including environment, education, infrastructure and North and East reconciliation. Aitken Spence, Diesel and Motor Engineering (DIMO), Hayleys, John Keells Holdings, Nestle Lanka and Sampath Bank are corporates that won the overall award during the previous years. This year’s awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in November and the Chamber invites corporates in the private and public sector to participate in the competition. Applications will close on Friday 12 September 2014. More details on the Best Corporate Citizen Award can be obtained by contacting Hasini Jasingaarachchi on 5588868 or by emailing [email protected].