Asian Grid Leadership Award for excellence in entrepreneurship

Prasantha Kularatna, MD/CEO of Premium International won the prestigious Asian Grid Leadership Award for entrepreneurial excellence in a sparkling ceremony held in Mumbai, India on 29 November 2012. The ceremony coincided with the 14th Annual Convention on Leadership.

Premium International is Sri Lanka’s top tier organisation for integrated healthcare engineering solutions. They nurture the cause of healthcare of Sri Lankans by bringing in technologically advanced healthcare solutions, from consultancy to construction, project management to equipment supply, and from business modelling to technical after sales services. 

Premium is the only ISO 9001-2008 certified company in Sri Lanka covering the scope of consulting and project management for healthcare facilities along with implementation of turn-key healthcare projects.

The industrial engineering solutions business unit of Premium covers heavy machinery for port logistics and transport, emergency backup power solutions, heavy-duty laundry for commercial application, clinical waste treatment facilities and complete audio-visual solutions for the corporate and education sectors. The company is a strategic service provider to Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the South Asia Gateway Terminal.

Premium International partners include global leaders such as Samsung, Fresenius, Nihon Kohden, Sakura, Fuji, Mitsubishi, Covidien, Philips, Terberg, Terex, Hitzinger and Forbo, in introducing cutting-edge technology to the needs of health and industrial sectors in Sri Lanka. Under Prasantha’s leadership, Premium International has become a multi-billion rupee business entity with a sustainable business model within nine years from its inception.

Kularatna has promoted innovation, entrepreneurial drive and operational excellence from the beginning and their recent collaboration with the University of Moratuwa in setting up Sri Lanka’s first ever research lab for biomedical technologies endorses the fact of a leading public-private partnership in harnessing local talent base to further penetrate high growth industries.  As a conscious corporate citizen, Premium has demonstrated their genuine interest in uplifting the society as a whole. The Horizon (tsunami) Community Centre in Kathaluwa, a coastal village in southern Sri Lanka, is a CSR project that has built capacity and empowered not only the children, but also the community. Collaborations with national level charities such as Sri Lanka Red Cross and direct assistance to the effected during emergencies are yet more examples of Premium’s CSR activities.  Concentrated diversification and leveraging on their network of global and innovative business partners in healthcare and related sectors, Premium has reached international markets including India, Maldives, Mauritius and Ghana.

Kularatna’s vision and leadership in developing Premium to be a top tier professional organisation has been recognised both locally and internationally. The Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award, the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and the National Business Excellence awards are some of the forums in which his entrepreneurship and Premium’s achievements have been recognised.