EDB 25th Presidential Export Awards in Nov.

EDB Chairman Dr. Kingsley Bernard unveils online application portal 
https://pea.edb.gov.lk/ dedicated to Presidential Export Awards

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) yesterday said the 25th Presidential Export Awards (PEA) ceremony will be held on Thursday, November 23, 2023, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

The PEA stands as the pinnacle of recognition bestowed by the president upon the exporters who have made exceptional contributions to the country’s export sector and economic advancement. 
The EDB extends invitation to Sri Lankan exporters to submit their applications for consideration as recipients of the PEA. This esteemed accolade seeks to honour and acknowledge exporters, who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in fostering the growth in economic development. 

The PEA was initiated by the EDB in 1981 and the EDB has organised 24 ceremonies for the past years and this year, the EDB is planning to organise the 25th PEA ceremony, at the BMICH, with the participation of around 1500 invitees, including ministers, diplomatic corps, government officials, well-wishers as well as exporters. 
This year’s awards ceremony will be held to recognise the country’s best exporters for two financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23. The awards will be presented in two main categories, with 13 overall awards and 51 product and services sector awards for each financial year. 

Further, Merit certificates for the deserving sectors will also be awarded, as decided by the panel of judges, based on the performance of the applicants. The selections for the awards were done by an eminent panel, headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

In line with the new government policy framework, the EDB has implemented new strategies to expand Sri Lanka’s exports and it is expected to increase Sri Lanka’s exports substantially. Accordingly, initiatives taken by the exporters in the areas of market diversification, product diversification, innovation, value addition, introduction of indigenous brands to the world, sustainable initiatives in exports, development in regional value chains, etc. were considered when designing the overall awards. 

Furthermore, the selection of sectoral awards will be competitive, as evaluation is not only based on the export earnings but also several other criteria such as value addition for exports, employment creation, growth of export earnings, export proceed repatriations, environment sustainability and corporate social responsibility, etc. Also, arrangements have been made to present Merit awards for next best companies.
This year, the EDB proudly introduces the online application portal https://pea.edb.gov.lk/ dedicated for the PEA. The exporting companies will be able to submit online applications through this portal from today till August 7, 2023. 

Apart from the online application, the exporters will be able to get all the relevant details such as award categories, guidelines, evaluation criteria, instruction videos to fill the application and the testimonials given by the winning companies on this prestigious PEA. 
At the PEA ceremony on November 23, the award winners will receive a prestigious PEA trophy and certificate. They have the privilege to use the PEA logo as a marketing tool for a three-year period from this date.