Maldives Business Awards 2018 has awarded all 23 winners with their respective awards during the gala event held at Paradise Island Resort. Organised by local PR firm, Blazon Inc., the awards saw a grand total of 185 applicants across 25 categories. Out of those, 56 were selected as finalists and 23 were named winners following over 100 hours of judging.
The judge's panel of Maldives Business Awards consisted of a total of nine judges who worked to the best of their abilities to ensure that all the entrants had a fair chance of winning. The judging panel constitutes of former Ambassador to Singapore Hamdun Abdullah Hameed, Associate Professor at International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) Aishath Muneeza, Managing Director of Life Support Mariyam Waseema, Partner at Litica Law Associates Azmiralda Zahir, Managing Director at United Food Suppliers Ibrahim Athif Shakoor, Founder of The LawHouse Ashraf Rasheed, former President of Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) Abdullah Giyas, Director General at Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure Fathimath Shaanaa Faarooq and Chairman of Capital Market Development Authority (CMDA) Ahmed Mazin.
Speaker of Parliament Qasim Ibrahim was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award after immense paneling and discussion from the judges in various rounds. In addition, he was considered due to his immense contributions to society, government and the economy. From establishing scholarships and a top tier university as well as fulfilling the responsibilities as Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and Minister of Finance; Qasim Ibrahim has proven himself instrumental to the development of the Maldivian Economy.
During the awards ceremony, Allied Insurance Company of the Maldives was also the recipient of one of the two elite awards. Allied Insurance took home the Business of the Year award, after attaining the maximum points on average from the categories. The insurance company managed to win the award after being recognised for its extremely professional business conduct and discipline.
Meanwhile, Young Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Ali Haris, Business Women of the Year was awarded to Raaidha Shafeeq, Inspirational Leader of the Year was awarded to Abdul Majeed and Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Mohamed Ali Janah.
Maldives Business Awards was launched with the aim of recognising and acclaiming businesses who have shown exceptional performances in their respective fields.