Nominations open for latest edition of Enterprise 50 Awards

Nominations are open again to recognise home-grown firms that have been able to reinvent themselves and chart new paths of growth while balancing their environmental responsibilities.

A total of 50 companies will receive the Enterprise 50 (E50) Awards this year.

Nominations for the award opened yesterday and will close on June 30 at 5pm.

The 28th iteration of the E50 Awards is co-organised by The Business Times and KPMG Singapore, and sponsored by OCBC Bank.

Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Exchange are supporting the awards.

A total of 86 business leaders from more than 76 local enterprises attended the virtual launch of the awards yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Mr Wong Wei Kong, editor of The Business Times, said: "As Singapore companies put the pandemic behind them, the focus will be back on growth."

"Yet it is also clear that it cannot be business as usual, or even growing as before. Companies will face the challenge of growing sustainably, being held more accountable for the impact they make."

Mr Jonathan Ho, partner and head of private enterprise at KPMG Singapore and co-chairman for the E50 Awards, said the next decade will be a time of intense competition worldwide.

Economies will open up post-pandemic, and more companies will strive to leverage environmental, social and governance aspects as a lever for growth.

Mr Ho added that the E50 Awards platform provides opportunities for feedback and benchmarking of capabilities at a national level.

Mr Marcus Neo, chief executive officer of Omni-Plus System and guest speaker at the launch event, shared his business' journey towards its initial public offering debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last year.

The company, which was founded in 2002, designs and sells raw polymer materials to manufacturers for use in their end products.

It had won the Enterprise Transformation Award at the E50 Awards in 2020.

E50 Awards was launched in 1995 to identify, support, recognise and reward the most outstanding local firms across all sectors.

Applicants are evaluated and ranked using both quantitative and qualitative criteria.

Quantitative factors include financial performance indicators such as operating profit before tax, turnover and profit growth.

Qualitative criteria include management and marketing strategies, such as the applicants' business models, management ideals and innovation.

Applicants can complete the nomination form via the Enterprise 50 website at https://www. businesstimes.com.sg/awards/ e50/apply-now

They should submit their financial statements for financial years 2021, 2020 and 2019, and a business case write-up in a presentation deck.

Those looking for more information about the awards can go to https://enterprise50.org/