It was the celebration of excellence for the Nepali business fraternity. The Nimbus FNCCI National Excellence Award 2070 on Tuesday night honoured companies with best practices and services, brands loved by the masses, business men, and young achievers who have made contribution to the Nepali private sector.

Amid a gala ceremony, 16 business institutions and individuals under nine categories were honoured by President Ram Baran Yadav and Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala. Unilever Nepal bagged the coveted FNCCI National Excellence Award. The FMCG major was recognised for its outstanding performance among large-scale industries. Get Paper Industries took home the prize under small enterprises, and Quest Pharmaceuticals under the medium-scale enterprises segment.

The country’s largest retail chain, Bhat Bhateni Super Market’s owner Min Bahadur Gurung was acknowledged with the Businessperson of the Year award. For his contribution to Nepali business and economy, Soaltee Group President Emeritus Prabhakar Sumsher Rana was conferred with Life Time Achievement Award. Accepting the award, Rana who appreciated FNCCI’s initiative in a nostalgic tone, said: “This is the last award I will be receiving in my lifetime. I would like to thank the whole fraternity for making it possible.”

Former Non Resident Nepalese (NRN) President Upendra Mahato took away the award of NRN Business Person of the Year Award for his remarkable contribution to the business sector of the country.

After numerous accolades abroad, global fashion icon Prabal Gurung recived his first major award at home when he was given the Young Achievers Award (male). The US-based Nepali fashion designer Gurung recently made headlines, with singer Lady Gaga flaunting his creation ‘technical satin’ during recent MTV Video Music Awards.In the female segment, Nikita Poudel of Gopi Krishna Group and Milee Shrestha took home the awards.

Under the most-talked-about Best Brand Peoples’ Choice award, telecom giant Ncell walked away with the Best Multinational Nepalese Company award, while WaiWai bagged the Bese Nepalese Company award. They were chosen winners through SMS and Facebook voting.

One more award greeted Ncell, when it was awarded with the Service Excellence Award under-large enterprise category for offering best services to consumers in the telecom sector. F1 Soft International walked away with the Service Excellence Award under the small enterprises category, followed by Advanced Poly Clinic under the medium-scale segment. One of leading commercial banks, Nabil Bank clinched the People Excellence Award.

Gham Power Nepal bagged the commendation letter for Employment Satisfaction, Sipradi Trading for Employ Development and Butwal Power Company for Work Plan Development.

Addressing the event, FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya highlighted the importance of the award. “We are here to celebrate the achievement of the Nepalese business fraternity,” said Vaidya. “We are hopeful this event shall turn into inspiration for business es to excel into greater prosperity.”