Nominations for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 open

Program supports need for entrepreneurship and globally competitive enterprises.

Ernst & Young launched on Apr 7 the nominations for its ninth annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) awards.

From now until 30 June 2010, members of the public can nominate local entrepreneurs who have demonstrated strong entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and sound financial track record and built successful and dynamic businesses that have global impact. The nominees will be assessed by an independent judging panel across the six globally benchmarked criteria. Entrepreneurs who excel across the six criteria will be honoured as winners of award titles that are designed to reflect their unique quality or achievement. The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Singapore will be presented to the finalist who ranks the highest across all six criteria.

Mr. Steven Phan, Country Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP says: “As market optimism returns this year, we should be proud of the many enduring local enterprises that have sustained or even grown their businesses during the recent economic recession. Challenging times present the best opportunities and tests of entrepreneurial qualities, and we encourage the public to be even more forthcoming in nominating entrepreneurs who have proven themselves.” Close to 50 nominations were received last year.

Supporting the imperative for globally competitive enterprises

The objective of the awards program remains unchanged since its launch in 2002 to coincide with the government’s focus on fostering entrepreneurship. Mr. Steven Phan adds: “In this year’s Budget, the Singapore government has called for economic restructuring with growing globally competitive companies as a priority. We hope that in celebrating the stories of leading entrepreneurs, we can inspire more of our local small-and-medium enterprises to think beyond traditional constraints and have the necessary ambition and risk appetite to expand their businesses not just within Singapore, but abroad as well.”

Making a global impact – one of the long-standing criteria of the Ernst & Young EOY awards – aligns the program with the country’s focus on growing globally competitive companies. The ability to achieve international growth is deemed a hallmark of an outstanding entrepreneur. Past winners of the Ernst & Young EOY awards are business leaders helming companies with international or regional presence.

Enabling local enterprises to internationalize also requires a conducive operating environment. Singapore was the most globalized country relative to its GDP among 60 of the world’s largest countries and territories, according to The Globalization Index that was released by Ernst & Young and the Economist Intelligence Unit in January 2010. In particular, Singapore scored the highest in terms of openness to trade, while excelling across other measures i.e., capital movements, exchange of technology and ideas, labor movements and cultural integration.

Singapore entrepreneurs at World Entrepreneur Of The Year award

From 3 to 6 June 2010, EOY country winners representing 50 countries will be convening at the prestigious World Entrepreneur Of The Year (WEOY) award in Monte Carlo, Monaco to vie for the coveted WEOY title. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the WEOY award.

Mr. Arnaud Vaissié, cofounder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International SOS, who was named Ernst & Young EOY 2009 Singapore, will be representing Singapore at the WEOY this year. He will be competing against other country winners in the likes of China’s Li Shufu of Geely Automobile Holdings, UK’s Michael Spencer of ICAP and India’s Anand Mahindra of Mahindra Group.

On the attributes that the next generation of entrepreneurs will need to be a leader in this decade, Mr. Arnaud Vaissié comments: "The recent economic crisis is showing us that it is crucial for entrepreneurs to value integrity and to consider the social impact of their business. A strong sense of ethics lays the foundation and helps build enduring companies that can meet the challenges of the rapidly changing world we live in."

The EOY country winners will be assessed by an independent international judging panel. This year, Mr. Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO of Olam International, also winner of Ernst & Young EOY 2008 Singapore, has been appointed as a member of the global judging panel. Other past EOY Singapore winners, Mr. Wong Ngit Liong of Venture Corporation and Mr. Tay Liam Wee of Sincere Watch, have also assumed similar roles at previous WEOY.