Sharjah Chamber Launches Ninth Edition Of Sharjah Economic Excellence Award

Annual award continues with mission to recognize excellence, creativity, performance and efficiency in today’s business community

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has announced the official launch of the 2010 edition of the Sharjah Economic Excellence Award (SEEA) during a press conference held yesterday (October 17, 2010) at the SCCI headquarters in Sharjah. Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, the ninth edition of the award continues with its mission of recognizing business excellence, creativity, performance and efficiency in Sharjah’s thriving business community. The SEEA also complements the local chamber’s strategic thrust towards encouraging the private sector to adopt and implement benchmark trade practices and international quality standards that can help bolster Sharjah’s economic growth and development.

Present during the launch were Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi, Director General, SCCI and Member of the Board of Trustees, SEEA; Lalu Samuel, Managing Director, Pierlite Middle East (SEEA Main Sponsor); Abdulla Mohammed Al Shaibani, Chairman, Amlak Al Medina Real Estate (SEEA Gold Sponsor) and Nada Al Hajri, General Coordinator, SEEA. Also present were local media representatives covering the launch.

Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi said, “The launching of this year’s edition of the SEEA reflects the success and positive reception that it has received over the previous years. The award continues to be an inspiration for companies to adopt best practices and high standards in order to increase production and efficiencies--falling in line with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah and Member of the Supreme Council, to create an ideal business environment that aims to bring Sharjah one step closer in achieving total sustainable development and package the emirate as an ideal business and investment destination in the Middle East region. The SCCI affirms its commitment towards developing and enhancing the award nomination and selection process according to the changes being experienced in today’s rapidly growing business sector. Awards like the SEEA play important roles in the move to inspire and encourage businesses to adopt and implement best trade practices and high quality standards, which can lead to an increase in productivity and efficiency.”

“The SCCI has been very successful in achieving set goals and objectives during previous editions of the SEEA and we look forward to seeing an increase in participating companies this year. The SCCI board of trustees, which is headed by H.E. Mohammed Al Midfa, will be implementing a more aggressive campaign to encourage more businesses to participate—exhibits, workshops and special meetings that aim to give a better understanding of the award, its mechanics, processes and different categories. Moreover, the SCCI remains steadfast in its commitment to recognize creativity; reinforce positive competitiveness; enhance corporate performance and quality efficiency and inspire the emirate to reach new horizons of growth and development. The award serves as an excellent business tool that aims to strengthen business ties between the private and public sectors and encourage both parties to adopt a culture of excellence,” concluded Al Mahmoudi.

Lalu Samuel, Managing Director of Pierlite Middle East, pointed out that it is both a pleasure and privilege to be the main sponsor for this year’s edition of the SEEA; giving them the opportunity to continue their unique partnership with the SCCI and be a part of an important event that continues to be an inspiration for the local business community to improve quality and upgrade local products for both the regional and international markets.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Shaibani, Chairman, Amlak Al Medina Real Estate, shared that sponsoring the award reflects the high level of importance that national companies are placing on quality and excellence programs. Al Shaibani also pointed out that the company, which is a previous recipient of the SEEA award, has become one of the country’s leading real estate companies by adopting and implementing SEEA standards and measures.

Nada Al Hajri, General Coordinator, SEEA, said, “In line with the vision of the Sharjah Government to push for more growth and development, the SCCI has developed standards that are based on a fully integrated program—documented field nomination and evaluation mechanisms and other support programs that offer a unified system that helps participating companies to strengthen its operations, increase productivity and efficiencies and experience increased growth. We are also in the process of developing the award’s website to help increase awareness about the awards. The award will have 9 categories, including the gold category and the business leadership category, which were added last year as a result of combining the National Youth Projects Category and the Businesswomen Projects Category.”

The ninth edition of SEEA is being supported by leading business groups such as Pierlite Middle East, SEEA main sponsor; Amlak Al Medina Real Estate, SEEA gold sponsor and Al Eqtisadiah Newspaper, SEEA media sponsor.

The SEEA Board of Trustees have decided to combine the financial sector category with the commercial category and the tourism category with the service category, in order to give participating businesswomen the opportunity to compete with their investment projects. The board has also moved the nomination period to January 2, 2011, to encourage more companies to participate and to allow them more time to prepare for the award.

The SEEA aims to encourage the local business sector to adopt and implement benchmark trade practices to help in the collective effort to develop Sharjah and package it as an ideal investment venue. The award was originally launched in 1990 under the name “Best Exporters Award”, which aimed at motivating porters to develop unique mechanisms to increase their activities. The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which organizes the annual awards, improved the criterion of the awards and expanded the scope of participation. The award was renamed to “Elites Awards” in 1995 and renamed again to “Sharjah Economic Excellence Award” in 2001 under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah. The organizational structure of SEEA aims at helping enterprises in their management and operations with more than just quick reformation programs but by also motivating these enterprises to improve their competitiveness by offering high quality services and products. SEEA also aims at recognizing the achievements of enterprises that provide sustainable quality conditions and productivity improvements.
 

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