KUCHING: Six entrepreneurs were honoured at the Sarawak State Entrepreneur Awards of the Year (EOYS) 2021 on Monday (Jan 25).
Among the recipients was Ir John Yong Lock Ping who received the Emerging Entrepreneur award category while those who received the award for the Master Entrepreneur category were James Hii Sing Lung, Dayang Sophia Abang Taha, Rewi Hamid Bugo, Lim Ah Ted and Datuk Wong Kuo Hea.
At the annual event, the awards were presented by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at Imperial Hotel.
SCCI chairman Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg said that since 2004, 60 successful entrepreneurs from all Sarawak had been recognised.
The EOYS 2021 Award was organised by the Ministry of International Trade and Investment and Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Ernst & Young (EY) to recognise the best business in Sarawak, recognise the success of up-and-coming entrepreneurs and encourage growth and small and medium scale industries in Sarawak.
He added that the past two years had been difficult for the people of Sarawak and that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a lot of concern for the businesses.
“The pandemic has caused a lot of anxiety and uncertainty to our businesses and our usual activities have been greatly curtailed by the crisis.
“Although COVID-19 is well contained in Sarawak, our economy has also been severely affected by the pandemic.
“In these challenging times, entrepreneurs have to build resilience to respond to uncertainty, to survive and thrive,” he added.
He added that it was during this kind of challenging economic climate that Sarawak recognised the importance of accelerating its development agenda.
“This is to ensure no one is left behind as we move towards a developed status by 2030,” he said.