Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a great son of India described it as “a spectacular event in every sense,” Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said it was an “extremely enjoyable evening” Opposition Leader David Shearer, Auckland Mayor Len Brown and Indian High Commissioner Avanindra Kumar Pandey said that each winner was a success story, while almost everyone said the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards (IBA) 2012 it was the “best ever.”
The Presentation Ceremony, held on Monday, November 19, 2012 at Sky City Convention Centre brought together about 800 men and women, among who were Ministers, Members of Parliament, Chairmen and Chief Executives of multinationals, Directors and owners of large, medium and small enterprises and professionals.
Celebrating success
It was an evening to celebrate the success of businesses that won top honours in a nationwide contest that was for companies owned, franchised, operated and managed by people of Indian origin, except the ‘Business Excellence in Export to India’ category which was open to all New Zealand businesses.
Supreme Business
Multitrade International, an Auckland based company, qualified for the ‘Supreme Business of the Year’ Award (sponsored by BNZ). The Company also won the ‘Business Excellence in Customer Service’ (sponsored by Kalamazoo Group) Award, while its Chief Executive Atin Patel took the ‘Best Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award (sponsored by Patton Limited).
Multitrade International Chief Executive Atin Patel said that the application process itself was rewarding and that winning Awards was ‘icing on the cake.’
“Winning the ‘Supreme Business of the Year’ Award was a gratifying experience. It has certainly put us on the map,” he said.
Networking success
Darius Mistry, Managing Director of Imagetext Integrated Systems said that winning awards (in the ‘Business Excellence in ICT’ and ‘Best Medium-Sized Business’ categories) was a great morale booster.
“We look forward to working with some of the businesses that were present at the ceremony to pass on these benefits of our experience. I have already made contacts with at least four organisations with who we may start work at some level in the New Year,” he said.
Mani Group Managing Director, Dinesh Mani, winner of the ‘Business Excellence in Restaurant Trade’ said that he was overwhelmed to receive the honour.
“Our success lies in our strong focus on our mission and our core values which is to build talent and deliver excellence in customer service,” he said.
Growth incentives
Mr English paid tributes to the Indian business community for its outstanding contributions to the development and progress of New Zealand.
“We are committed to promoting small businesses through incentives and other possible ways of encouragement. We value our growing economic and bilateral relations with India,” he said.
Opposition Leader David Shearer said that such events demonstrated the importance of recognising the achievements of businesses.
“Indian businesses are known for their acumen, hard work and ability to survive under tough economic conditions. The Awards Presentation Ceremony is a great occasion to acknowledge achievers,” he said.
Small Business Minister John Banks said, “It was a great event and we thoroughly enjoyed the inspirational speech of Mr Gandhi. We were pleased to be a part of this grand event to mark the success of Indian businesses in New Zealand.”
Radio Tarana Managing Director described the event as a ‘super success’ and said that it offered one of the best networking opportunities.
“We plan to offer something exclusive for our ‘Business Excellence in Marketing Award’ next year. This is our commitment to enhance the value of IBA,” he said.
Top Compliments
Auckland Councillor Arthur Anae and Cameron Brewer, Villa Maria Estate Executive Director Fabian Yukich, Todd Property Group Corporate Affairs Manager Conor Roberts, Smith & Caughey Chairman Tony Caughey, Former Media Works Chief Executive Brent Impey were among the many who sent their compliments following the event.
Mr Gandhi’ Speech in verbatim, related reports and pictures appear in our Awards Special in this issue.
