The Department of Marketing and Tourism Management took the initiative to organize Retorika: Transnational Dialogues, a business plan contest; the outcome of the virtual exchange project the department held with the University of Lorraine, France.

A group of NSBM students representing various faculties at the university worked collaboratively with a team of Law students at the University of Lorraine to develop a business plan that is to be positioned in Europe. The NSBM students provided business insights while UOL students acted as the legal advisors for the business.

The first round of the competition was held on the 12th December while the final round was successfully concluded on the 20th January with the presence of an esteemed panel of judges: Ms. Nayomi Handunnetti- the founder of ‘The T-Brex’ and co-founder of ‘Cider Ceylon, Mr. Ashiq Aminuddin- Senior Trainer at Luminary Learning Solutions and Mr. Dulinda Perera- the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of IKON.

The best four groups selected from the first round contested at the finals and the winner for the best promotional video and the best business plan were awarded to Vinuk Sandesh Welikala , Nuradha Ranasinghe and Senul SenithaJayasundera from the Faculty of Business. The French students collaborating with them were Camille Carriat and Noor Amari.

The event was graced by the esteemed presence of Madam Thilini de Silva, Dean of the Faculty of Business, Mr. VenuraColombage, Head of the Department of Marketing and Tourism Management, along with distinguished academics.