The stage is set for the fifth South African Premier Business Awards that will honour business excellence at the Sandton Convention Centre tonight.
Around 30 finalists from across the country will be vying for top spots at the annual awards that will be hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) in partnership with Brand South Africa and Proudly South African.
“This awards ceremony is a crucial day in the calendar of our department in numerous ways. It allows us and our partners to take a moment and celebrate the best of what this country’s business has to offer. It provides us with an opportunity to recognise and honour companies that have contributed in taking this country forward by creating employment, increasing exports, investing in various sectors, enhancing industrialisation and transforming our economy,” said dti Minister Rob Davies.
The awards, which encompass ten categories including the investors and black industrialists award, will be held under the theme: Rewarding Business Excellence.
The ceremony will provide a platform where business and government leaders come together to network and reflect on the country’s economic opportunities and challenges while also sharing ideas on other possible areas of collaboration and cooperation.
“The awards themselves have seen us working with companies and institutions such as Old Mutual, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Tsogo Sun and the Wits Business School. This demonstrates and confirms the great strides that government and the private sector can make when working together. We also put together a laudable panel of judges comprising of distinguished and selfless individuals from both the private and public sectors,” said the Minister.
Minister Davies said the commendable growth of the awards in stature and quality since their inception in 2013, is testimony to the kind of achievement that can be registered when government and business pull in one direction in the interest of the county’s economic development.
The fifth edition of the awards saw almost 180 companies sign up for them.
“The awards ceremony also provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs operating in the small and medium enterprise sector to rub shoulders with prominent and influential businesspeople in big business and multinational space. We are also successfully making use of the awards to profile the flagship programmes of all the three partners, Black Industrialist Award for the dti, Play Your Part Award for Brand SA and the Proudly South African Member Company Award for Proudly South African.”
The ceremony is expected to get underway at 6:30pm. - SAnews.gov.za
