The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in Bangladesh yesterday launched its first ever Business Excellence Awards to recognise the country’s businesses and entrepreneurs for their contribution to the sustainable growth of the national economy. The awards will be presented in seven categories. These include exporter of ready-made garments (RMG), supply chain and backward linkage, exporters of non-traditional and emerging sectors and contributor in import substitution. The remaining three are leader in inbound investment, contributor of impactful infrastructure, and special contributor in innovation, job creation and supporting the community. Businesses and entrepreneurs can nominate themselves by filling in a form available at business.hsbc.com.bd/bea by December 31. The jury board comprises members from the HSBC senior management team and the commerce ministry. Aspects such as annual contribution to national exports and economy, diversity, responsibility, sustainable business practices, governance strengths and regulatory compliance will been considered in selecting winners. The awards is not exclusive to HSBC customers and open to all enterprises and entrepreneurs operating in Bangladesh. There is no entry fee or financial recognition, said the bank. Applicants of the RMG category must have a minimum annual export turnover of $50 million, non-traditional and emerging products exporters at least $3 million and supply chain and backward linkage firms $10 million. For nomination in import substitution category, firms have to produce at $10 million worth of import-substitute products. Launching the awards though a press conference at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka yesterday, Md Mahbub ur Rahman, deputy CEO and country head of wholesale banking of HSBC Bangladesh, said the economy was doing well in achieving higher growth rate. Entrepreneurs hope for their businesses to grow at a faster rate which will continue to have an impact on the socio-economic development of the country, he said. “These awards aim to support businesses to thrive, and to enable them to connect with high growth global opportunities,” he said. Muhammad Shohiduzzaman, country head of global trade and receivables finance, and Talukdar Noman Anwar, country head of communications, also spoke.
Source – The Daily Star.
