Officials at the launch
PIC BY PRADEEP DILRUCKSHANA

The Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) announced the launch of its annual flagship event WCIC Prathibhabhisheka – Women Entrepreneur Awards 2024, to recognise and reward the outstanding women entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka and in the SAARC region. 

“Women Entrepreneur Awards 2024 is unveiled. We once again invite outstanding women entrepreneurs, who have braved the challenges in the past few years to share their story of resilience and achievements to compete for the coveted – WCIC Prathibhabhisheka – Women Entrepreneur Awards 2024, at the ceremony to be held in January 2025. The awards ceremony will honour women entrepreneurs for their tenacity to scale and grow and for their contribution and impact on the economy. Whilst the competition is primarily for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, we have included an opportunity for women entrepreneurs in the SAARC region to compete under the special category. The programme, which was a facelift to the Women Entrepreneur Awards WCIC conducted in the past, has grown in stature year-on-year. It is the third consecutive award ceremony under the new theme that we will undertake in 2024, the impact it has made on the audience is clearly visible. The applicants are now very aware of the need for a strategic outlook for the business and the need to establish robust governance and finance procedures,” stated WCIC Chairperson Anoji De Silva. 

Co–Chairs Nilani Seneviratne and Tusitha Kumarakulasingam shared, “We will be accepting applications under the categories: Start-Up, Micro, Small, Medium and Large. Each category will have a specified revenue for the year under review – 2023/2024. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be presented for each category. ‘Best of the Province’ is awarded to the most outstanding of all the applications, from each province.  

The Young Woman Entrepreneur, Outstanding Start-Up, The Woman of Courage, The Most Outstanding Export-Oriented Entrepreneur (Product and Services) and The Best of the SAARC Region, Digital Entrepreneur, Most Innovative Entrepreneur and The Social Entrepreneur for 2024. The ceremony will culminate with the selection of ‘The Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year – 2024’.

The application for the event can be downloaded from www.wcicsl.lk or requested from the WCIC office (it would be sent to the interested applicants via email). The application should be completed stringently completed and submitted to the WCIC along with all the material required to substantiate the applicant’s story. Entries close on the October 31, 2024.”