Brijmohan Lall Munjal, chairman of the Hero Group, has become the first Indian to be selected to the international panel of judges for the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.
The four-day awards programme, slated to held in Monte Carlo, Monaco, will begin on June 5, 2003.
N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Infosys Technologies and the winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year India 2002 award, will represent India.
Murthy will be inducted into the World Entrepreneur of the Year Academy and chair the panel of judges.
Ernst & Young, organisers of the award, on Tuesday also announced the opening of nominations for Entrepreneur of the Year awards for this year.
"Munjal's nomination to the exclusive panel of judges for the third Ernst & Young WEOY is a recognition of his indomitable entrepreneurial spirit, and a testimony that India's business leaders are today sought after all over the world," said Kashi Memani, chairman, Ernst & Young, India, at a press conference in New Delhi.
Munjal is the first Indian to be on the 11-member jury of the WEOY, a pioneering programme launched by Ernst & Young Global in 2001, Memani added.
"There is no parallel for an award of this stature in India. Winners from previous years have indicated that winning award has enhanced their reputation, improved employee morale and many even achieved higher sales," said V V Ranganathan, the national director and country leader for the programme in India.
"Its robust process of nomination and selection has evolved over several years and today it shares that rich knowledge and experience across 115 cities in 35 nations around the globe," Ranganathan added.
Entrepreneur of the Year award winners from 27 countries around the globe will participate in the WEOY 2003 contest and represent the best from the several thousand nominations received worldwide.
The participating countries include India, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Among the finalists from across India, the Entrepreneur of the Year will then represent India at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year International Conference at Palm Springs, USA and at the WEOY Award 2004 in Monte Carlo.
Past recipients of Entrepreneur of the Year Award include Subhash Chandra (Zee Telefilms) in 1999, Mukesh D Ambani (Reliance) in 2000, Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Hero Group) in 2001 and Narayana Murthy (Infosys) in 2002.
The award was first created in 1986 in the United States. Over the past 17 years, the Ernst & Young programme has expanded to over 35 countries worldwide.
Ernst & Young India launched the programme in 1999, making it the first country in the firm's Asia-Pacific region to introduce this initiative.
UNI
