subject: Smart Media wins "Asia Pacific Agency of the Year" [print this page] Smart Media wins "Asia Pacific Agency of the Year"
Smart Media and Clients Win Honour for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has gained top honours for the quality of its annual reports at the recently concluded League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) Annual Report Competition. Several Sri Lankan companies received awards for their annual reports whilst two companies also made it to the global top 100 list. Smart Media - The Annual Report Company was awarded the Gold for Agency of the Year in the Asia Pacific Region.
This unprecedented honour for the Country was announced at a media conference hosted by the winning companies.
Explaining the stature and significance of these awards, Smart Media's Chairman, Dr. Vijith Kannangara said that, nine out of the top ten Fortune 500 companies participate in LACP competitions. "This year, there were more than 4,000 entries from 28 countries for this Global Annual Report Competition conducted annually in USA. Only the top 15% have received award-level recognition. The average split between narrative and financials in judging has been 40% to 60%", added Dr. Kannangara.Chairman and CEO of Diesel & Motor Engineering Company, Ranjith Pandithage whose company won its category Gold, as well as the Gold for the Most Engaging Annual Report in the Asia
Pacific Region and was ranked No. 61 among the global top 100 said, "Dimo works with over 50 Principals from around the world, representing many of the world's top brands. Our Principals want to know how we deal with their products. The Annual Report is a tool of communication in this regard. It is also a means of demonstrating our commitment to Sustainability. Excellent partnership with Smart Media spanning over 15 years has helped us to produce a world class Annual Report that fulfills all our aspirations. In the past Dimo Annual Report has also won many awards at the Annual Report Awards Competition organized by the ICASL".
Eastman Narangoda, Executive Chairman of Seylan Bank - who won its category Gold, as well as the Gold for the Most Improved Annual Report in the Asia Pacific Region stated that, "One and a half years back the Bank faced a crisis. Thanks to the timely intervention of the Central Bank and the new Board of Directors the Bank was successfully turned around. Our unique success story was captured in the form of a Case Study in the Annual Report 2009, probably the first of its kind in the world. We are receiving excellent feedback not only from investing community, business and financial communities but also from the academia, students and many diverse parties from across the world".
Chairman Mohan Pandithage of Dipped Products who won its category Silver, as well as the Silver for the Best Report Cover in the Asia Pacific Region and was ranked No. 91 among the global top 100 said, "As a Sri Lankan manufacturer with a significant global market share, we have been proud to have played a part in establishing the Country's position as a supplier of quality products. Today, we are proud to bring honour to Sri Lanka in a different sphere. Awards such as these will help Sri Lankan business and management to position its quality and professionalism at a high level in a global context. I must say that Smart Media has been able to truly understand our business, get to the core and produce a very innovative solution to present our business case".
Hayleys Chairman and CEO Mohan Pandithage remarked, "As a Sri Lankan multinational, we need to communicate effectively with a wide global audience. Being highly diversified, we have to also ensure that these audiences understand us very well. Our Annual Report plays a key part in this. Today, there is a lot of interest in investing and doing business in Sri Lanka. The timing of these awards is very good in that sense, and will help the Country in its efforts to promote itself as a good investment proposition". "Our relationship with Smart Media is one of great longevity. We didtake a very short break but are very glad to be back entrusting the production of our Annual Report to them", he added.
Sarath Ganegoda, Finance Director of Hayleys PLC stated that "Smart Media has brought financial reporting in Sri Lanka to a different level and these awards are a testimony to that".
Arjuna Gunaratne, Director of Nations Trust Bank who won Silver in its category said, "As a relatively new entrant to the banking industry the Annual Report has been very helpful to the Bank to establish its position among the investors depicting its value. Smart Media has made an immense contribution in this regard and undoubtedly has proved to be a top class agency in the production of Annual Reports".
Dilantha Seneviratne, Deputy CEO of Talawakelle Tea Estates who won the Bronze in its category said, "Sri Lanka is famous for its teas. Now we need to profile Sri Lanka more to an international audience and showcase the standard of doing business with Sri Lanka. Awards for Annual Reports of this nature help the country in that respect. Our Company together with Smart Media have managed to put Sri Lanka on the map".
Krishan Thilakaratne, CEO of the Islamic Busniess Unit of Lanka Orix Finance Company Ltd. who won the Bronze in its category opined, "LOLC-Al Falaah represents a relatively new business segment for LOLC. Thus, we were really keen to make a strong start. I am happy that our efforts have been recognised by this top international award. I must say that Smart Media understood our business and its objectives well enough to render our maiden Annual Report an award winner at LACP."
Immediate Past Chairman of the Business for Peace Alliance (BPA) H. D. Wijeyanandana said "BPA is a non profit organization representing some 15,000 SME's island wide as its members that empower the regions and the businesses. Annual Report helps BPA in its attempts to communicate voice of SME's and to depict the efforts of the business community in uplifting living standards of the rural communities. We are grateful to Smart Media for producing our Annual Report free of charge since the inception of BPA.
Dr. Vijith Kannangara also explained the significance of Dimo and Dipped Products Annual Reports making it to the global top 100 list. He showed the full list of companies and the countries that made it to this list. Among them were key global corporate brands such as Bertelsmann AG ranked No 1; Adidas Group ranked No. 4; Thomson Reuters ranked No. 5; US Department of State ranked No. 6; Commerzbank AG ranked No. 8, Bayer AG ranked No. 44; Bank of China ranked No. 47; Heineken ranked No. 53; Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG ranked No. 54; WPP ranked No. 60; China Telecom ranked No. 65; Coca-Cola Enterprises ranked No. 77; Pfizer ranked No. 82; Kellogg Company ranked No. 89; and Sobha Developers of India ranked No. 93.
The Chairman of Smart Media - the Annual Report Company in his presentation also said that, "Over the past two years, Smart Media has also been laying valuable ground work within the international corporate reporting arena and has successfully positioned itself in selected overseas markets. These efforts have borne fruit, as the Company turned out an award winning report for Oman Air, in its maiden attempt. Oman Air's report won category Silver as well as the Silver for the Most Improved Annual Report from the Asia-Pacific Region at the LACP Annual Report Competition"
