Raja Waidyasekera, Ambalantota Corr.
Torr Kuberud, section head, development and planning, Royal Norwegian Embassy, the chief guest at the award ceremony of the Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 held at Oasis Hotel Hambantota addressing the gathering said that he arrived in Sri Lanka ten days ago but he was not new to Sri Lanka.

He said that he was glad to be back in Sri Lanka after fourteen years. He said that he served at the embassy from 1983 to 1987.

He said that he was glad and impressed by the development in Hambantota district. Everything is big in Hambantota. This ceremony is a proof for that.

"I toured Hambantota a little, I will come back many times as I did in the past".

The Norwegian government has been a partner in the development of Sri Lanka for the past several years. Our duty is to be a partner in your development activities. We hope to see a development in business and economic activities. Samantha Abeywickrama, Secretary General, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries in Sri Lanka (FCCISL) said that this was the sixth awards ceremony and that they are generously supported by sponsorship from the business community who acknowledges the importance of the awards in promoting economic growth in the area.

Awards are presented to five categories according to their total annual investment.

A total of nine awards are presented in the categories of gold trophy, silver trophy, bronze trophy and merit certificate.

The winners of the provincial awards go forward to be evaluated for the national finals.