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Featuring key political and business leaders, the high-profile event was attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa along with US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison and AllWorld Network Co-CEO Anne Habiby.
The program is said to establish the first definitive record of the fastest growing, most dynamic entrepreneurs in the country and is a pioneering effort to showcase and rank the most innovative and dynamic fast-growth private companies in Sri Lanka through a rigorous international credentialing process that discovers entrepreneurs with a track record of success in growth markets. The ranking will be published nationally and globally, giving visibility to emerging company stars.
In the country’s post-war development, it has been identified as vital to have new and upcoming entrepreneurs in all parts of the island and across all industries, with a fast track for growth. As such, SriLanka25 will look at empowering the SMEs, across all sectors in a three-year program which is likely to extend at an opportune time as a nine-year project.
AllWorld in Sri Lanka
SriLanka25 Co-ordinator, Bpecirandix CEO and JAAF founder Chairman Ashroff Omar speaking at the launch noted that the idea to bring this network to Sri Lankan transpired as a result of a trade program organised by US Embassy in conjunction with the New York City-based Business Council last October where a group of prominent Sri Lankan businessmen were invited to US as business ambassadors in order to promote investment in Sri Lanka.
“Towards the tail-end of the visit we went to Harvard Business School and there we met AllWorld Network Co-CEO Anne Habiby, who made a convincing and passionate presentation about the network,” Omar said.
“The US is Sri Lanka’s largest export market. Over the years Sri Lankan companies have been recognised by US companies/buyers as being reliable, ethical, compliant and sustainable; i.e. as great corporate citizens of the world. This was achieved in spite of the terrible phase we faced prior to 2009,” he expressed.
“Now that we have peace, it is time we change gears and aspire to significantly grow trade between the two countries. I am sure that the large corporates are already marching towards this goal. However, President’s vision is for new and upcoming entrepreneurs in all parts of the island and across all industries should have a fast track for growth. What we are launching today fits in the criteria as the focus is on SMEs and spreads across all sectors. I believe nine year program to be launched at the correct time.”
For the first year of the program John Keells Holdings, Access International, Maliban Garments, Hirdaramani Industries, MAS, Omega Line, Timex Garments and Brandix Lanka as of now has come forward to fund the project.
Benefits to the local economy
“The goal of AllWorld’s SriLanka25 is to present a deeper picture of Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial and innovative capacity based on real time annual information,” AllWorld Network Co-CEO Anne Habiby said.
The SriLanka25 ranking and accompanying data will facilitate access to capital, open new markets for entrepreneurs, provide real time feedback to policy makers and point forward for entrepreneurs to create the next economy for their country. “When entrepreneurship takes hold, the growth momentum builds, generating economic breakthroughs and social progress.”
Noting that employment is the central defining issue of our time, the network was founded to solve this issue, Habiby said by finding the fastest growing companies in countries and promote it as super-fast growing companies. This will promote innovation for quality, new ideas and job creation among other benefits which would trickle down to the masses. “We look at companies growing at supersonic pace and scale up.”
Currently the network has been successfully implemented in 17 countries, largely centred on the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Turkey and Africa. “We would like to encourage and have over 50 local entrepreneurs in the program,” she said.
How to apply
Interested local private companies which have been able to significantly growth their revenues in the past three years can now apply through an application process by visiting www.allworldxchange.com. Applications will close on 20 August this year.
Interested companies should have minimum three year audited operating history with revenues/turnover of at least US$500,000 as of 2013. They must also be independent, private, non-listed, for-profit corporations, partnerships or proprietorships. The company can however be an independently incorporated subsidiary of a wider group with a defined standalone business line. It must have its primary location or majority of operations in the country and must not be 51% or more owned by publicly traded company or from the public sector.
Smaller and younger companies can qualify as ‘Start-Ups to Watch’ using the same application.
Entrepreneurship
“Entrepreneurship is about so much more than profits. It’s about how you build a society that values competition and compassion at the same time,” US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison said.
A study that was conducted in the United Kingdom a few years ago, showed that the most entrepreneurial countries in the world are also the most prosperous.
“Let’s think about the places where citizens have the freedom to dream up a new idea, where they have an opportunity to share that idea freely with other people. Where you can be your own boss – and even, more importantly, where you are free to fail. These societies are both the most successful and they are the most cohesive and the most satisfied.”
She noted that many young entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka look to the US in terms of partners and imports while acknowledging that a new generation of entrepreneurs here is also developing Sri Lanka’s small but talented IT sector, which is contributing to growth in both the US and Sri Lanka. In fact, Massachusetts-headquartered Virtusa, is a key IT entity operating in Sri Lanka.
“This is a great example of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that creates jobs and economic growth in both the US and Sri Lanka,” Sison said. “The US Embassy is committed to promoting entrepreneurship.”
Boosting entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka should be seen as win/win in terms of the bilateral trade and the bilateral business-to-business relations as well.
“I am convinced that this significant increase in entrepreneurship globally will result in stronger communities worldwide. It will also lead to a more connected and thriving global economy in a world that demands shared prosperity, and innovations, more than ever before.”
Pix by Upul Abayasekera
