2005 Enterprise 50 And e50.startup Awards Presentation And Gala Dinner
November 22, 2005
Singapore’s 50 most enterprising companies for 2005 announced SINGAPORE, November 22, 2005 – eSys Technologies, a home-grown company which is rapidly becoming the world’s largest hard-disk drive distributor, took top honours at tonight’s 2005 Enterprise 50 and e50.startup Gala Dinner and Award Presentation.
The dinner was officiated by Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Education, Mr Chan Soo Sen, who gave away the awards to the winning companies.
The Enterprise 50 award, now in its eleventh year, was created by Accenture and the Business Times (BT) in 1995 to identify, support and reward enterprising privately-owned, local companies across all sectors. In addition to the 50 companies, five start-up companies are also chosen to receive the e50.startup award. The e50.startup award was created in 2002 to recognise local companies who do not have the track record to qualify
for the main Enterprise 50 list but possess notable innovation and enterprising spirit.
In the top three spots of this year’s Enterprise 50 list are eSys Technologies Pte Ltd, APS Asset Management Pte Ltd and BBS Access Pte Ltd. The top three e50.startup winners are Regency Steel Asia Pte Ltd, Kenetics Innovations Pte Ltd, and First Media Pte Ltd.
Commenting on this year’s winners, Accenture’s Country Managing Director, Seah Chin Siong said that the fifty companies showed many admirable traits.“Every year, standards improve as more companies become aware of the programme and take on the challenge to pit themselves against their peers. Apart from solid financial track records, this year’s winners are forward-thinking, very determined and made smart investments to improve their products, services and operations,” said Seah.
“The local business community must shift its focus to grooming local enterprises to take on the global business economy. The E50 list is key to encouraging local enterprises to venture beyond the home-ground by giving them the recognition they deserve. More importantly, this award continues to promote the spirit of excellence and entrepreneurship among local enterprises” he added.
Echoing the sentiments, Mr Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, said "Competition for places on the E50 list is getting keener every year. This year, we have 23 companies making it to the E50 list for the first time. Among them are K.K. Asia, Delta Exports and Farlin Timbers. Since its inception, the E50 program has identified and recognised close to 280 local companies that epitomise the spirit of enterprise. Almost 100 of them have
gone on to be listed. Given the high percentage, many Singapore companies see the E50 ranking as the stepping stone to being listed on the local bourse.''
The launch of the 2005 Enterprise 50 award programme was announced in May and nominations closed on June 30th 2005. To qualify companies must be locally incorporated, have at least 30% local equity, three years audited financial records and must not be listed on any stock exchange. The participants are evaluated on quantitative and qualitative criteria, which take into consideration performance indicators such as operating profit before tax, turnover and profit growth. Qualitative aspects include management philosophy, innovation and market presence.
The judging panel comprised senior management representatives from Accenture, the Business Times, the Economic Development Board (EDB) and International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore).
Said Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Chief Executive Officer, International Enterprise Singapore, “In our globalised economy, staying nimble and being quick to seize opportunities lead to success. Successful firms compete on superior business models. They move quickly to respond to new markets to gain first-mover advantage. IE Singapore is proud to have partnered many E50 companies as they internationalise. We are confident that many of
them would continue to innovate as they grow and build organisational strengths as they expand overseas.”
From the entries received, the companies were short listed and then ranked according to specific criteria. A wide range of business activity is represented – manufacturing (26 %), wholesale/distribution (18 %), food & beverage (6%), construction/real estate (4 %), engineering services (18%), IT & high-tech (6 %), logistics (2 %), and others (20%).1 Almost half (42%) of the winners are young, and have been in business under 10 years. Sixty percent of the winners have less than 100 staff.
"We congratulate the Enterprise 50 and e50.startup award winners. These companies and other emerging enterprises bring new ideas and innovations to the market, help spawn new industries of the future and inject vibrancy into our enterprise ecosystem. Their growth will add to the diversity of our business environment, enhance the synergistic relationships among companies in the ecosystem and contribute to making Singapore an even more compelling hub for business and investment," remarked Mr Ko
Kheng Hwa, Managing Director of Singapore Economic Development Board.
Sponsoring the program for the third consecutive year is DBS Bank. “DBS is committed to helping Singapore enterprises grow domestically and expand regionally, in turn contributing to the development of Singapore’s external economic wing,” commented Mr Edwin Khoo, Managing Director & Head of DBS Corporate & Enterprise Banking Group.“We are honoured to celebrate with all the E50 winners their achievements,” he added.
The E50 list is an annual ranking of Singapore's 50 most enterprising, privately-held local companies, organised by Accenture and The Business Times, with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB) and International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore). DBS Bank has been a sponsor of the program since 2003.