Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Monday, 2 December 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The awards ceremony was organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) following the Business Excellence Benchmark Competition. Ambassador of Japan Nobuhito Hobo was the Chief Guest at the event.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) won the Silver Award in the Overall Winner in recognition of its Business Excellence at the ceremony. SLPA also won the awards for the 1st Runner-Up in the Extra Large Category, winner of the State Service Sector and winner in Excellence in Capacity Building.
Significant achievement
It is significant that SLPA, being a State sector institution won the 1st Runner-Up and received these key awards at the first instance of its participation at the National Business Excellence Awards, bringing glory to the whole State sector network in addition to tough competition for excellence with the private sector. 
The competition, divided into five categories – namely, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small and Micro – and several industry sectors offered 88 awards which included many sector winners. The improved rules and criteria for categorising , marking and the process of evaluation have greatly contributed to make them more realistic in the contemporary business environment by giving better emphasis to excellence in all aspects of business discipline and to the socio- economic development of the country and not based on financial success alone.
President’s message
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a special message at the National Business Excellence Awards 2013 states that such awards immensely help enhance the competitiveness of products and services offered by Sri Lankan businesses. “These awards will not only be a worthy recognition for the recipients but also a good incentive to others to improve their standards,” the President stated.
With the rapid development presently taking place in the country and the exposure of Sri Lanka to the entire world, especially through the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013 (CHOGM) and the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF), the business sector has a great opportunity to integrate their activities with the country’s development. Competitiveness and high productivity play a vital role in such integration.
The National Business Excellence Awards (NBEA) Competition tries to make enterprises to meet these requirements and it encourages enterprises to measure their performance against others and take necessary steps for improvements.
Over the years the NBEA has become the most acclaimed and benchmarked event of evaluating and acknowledging business excellence in the country. It has come to be accepted as a well-planned, organised, objectively evaluated and unbiased competition to identify business excellence among Sri Lanka entities.
SLPA’s mega developments
Over the recent years the Management of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) led by its Chairman Dr. Priyath B. Wickrama under the vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and under the guidance of Minister of Highways, Ports and Shipping (Projects) Rohitha Abeygunawardena, has successfully launched its mega development projects, including the Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port (MRMRP), Colombo Port Expansion Project (CPEP), Oluvil Port Development Project, Galle and Trincomalee Ports Developments with a number of key measures to upgrade the industrial as well as human resource capacities to efficiently hoist the productivity and cater with an enhanced service to all its customers.
The import of brand new Gantry and RTG cranes to the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) of SLPA, widening of the road network within the Port of Colombo, the introduction of the state-of-the-art container transportation, stacking and security clearance systems, computerisation of documentation and such exchanges and opening of the CICIT of Colombo Port have effectively contributed towards its boost of efficiency as well as attracting a number of mega shipping lines at the Sri Lankan ports, especially in Colombo and Magam Ruhunupura, rapidly realising the vision of becoming the logistic excellence in the Indian Ocean.
Vision 2020
Dr. Wickrama recently took the initiative to launch Vision 2020, expressing the strategic objectives of SLPA in transforming Sri Lanka into a strategically important economic centre of the world. Chairman Dr. Wickrama, Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola, Vice Chairman Indika Karunajeewa, Additional Managing Director Janaka Kurukulasooriya, Director (Finance) Shirani Wanniarachchi, Director (Technical) A.D.T. Gunasekara, Director (Security) Major General Sanath Gamini Karunarathne, Director (Operations) Upali De Soyza, Harbour Master Capt. Ravi Jayawickrama, Chief Manager (Marketing and Business Development) Upul Jayatissa, Deputy Chief Manager (Communication and Public Relations) Nalin Aponso and Senior Operations Manager (DC and Billing) G.Z. Miskin attended the NBEA 2013 representing the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
