SME Innovation Award 2017 competition to encourage innovation

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Innovation Award competition was launched on 14 April 2017 in Port-Louis by the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah. The main objective of the Award is to encourage SMEs to adopt innovative approaches and practices leading to business transformation, new markets, productivity improvement and increased investment.  

In his address, Minister Bholah underlined that innovation plays a determining role in boosting the performance of enterprises and enables them to sustain productivity. He emphasised that innovation is a driving force for SMEs to garner competitiveness, higher productivity gains, better product development and production processes, and secure market niches.

He underscored that SMEs will be rewarded for taking risks and encouraged to be creative and innovative for product development. This competition will further instil an entrepreneurial attitude and culture of innovation, added the Minister.

The aim of Government, highlighted Mr Bholah, is to make SME the engine of growth by fostering the emergence of innovative, sustainable and globally competitive SMEs for job creation, value addition and economic democratisation. The 10-Year Master Plan takes into account the need for this impetus, hence this indoctrination of innovation, pointed out the Minister.

The SME Innovation Award 2017 comprises two categories, namely Best Production Innovation and Best Process Innovation.  The winner of each respective category will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 200,000.