Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Dubai, Jan 19: Dr Devid Frank Fernandes, an NRI entrepreneur, philanthropist and film producer, who is well known for his business acumen and charitable activities, has been awarded with ‘ET Business Excellence Award’ for the year 2020 for excellence in Entrepreneurship and Social Service. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the awards has been presented virtually.

Born in Thottam, Karnataka, Dr Frank had his education at a local government fisheries school. Following which, he shifted to Mumbai in 1968. He also worked in Larsen & Toubro and other companies before moving to UAE in 1977. After working as operations clerk at UASC (then Kuwait Shipping) he made shipping & freight forwarding operations as his primary form of business. In 1989, he founded Mosaco Shipping & Forwarding Company LLC with just eight employees.

Mosaco Shipping & Forwarding Company has a come a long way since its inception and is now a six-time award-winning provider of modern logistics facilities in UAE. It has completed over 23,454 projects across 38 countries.

Dr Frank’s sincerity in conducting business and the superior quality of services provided in Mosaco has earned him numerous accolades. Along with being a successful entrepreneur, he is also known for giving back to the society and his hometown. His charitable activities, peace missions have brought him love and admiration of people. Dr Frank has also been an active participant in sponsoring many social organisations in the UAE.

"My prime motto is to serve mankind on humanitarian grounds," he often says.

Dr Frank is also an admirer of the literature and cultural arts and is known to extend financial support to people working in this field. In 2017, he was also elected the president of ’Tulunadochhaya’ a two-day mega Tulu Ayona Event. The event was attended by over 2 lac people. Given his passion for the field of art, he also launched his own production house ’Ferns Movie International’ which is a renowned tri-lingual production house. This helped him to venture into the field of acting and play several roles in various movies.

In 2019, he was also conferred with ’Vishwa Taulava Chakravarthi’ award at ’Taulava Uchchaaya’, an international conference of Tulu language organised by Tulunada Rakshana Vedike. On accepting the honour, Dr Frank said, "I was born and bought up in Tulunadu. It is my responsibility to repay to my motherland where I got the perfect base for all my achievements. If a person forgets his past and the way which he grew up, it is tantamount to him having turned into a negative personality. You all are aware that my mother tongue is Konkani. But I have equal respect for Tulu which is a language of the soil I was born in. As an entrepreneur, it is easy for me to extend financial support for the promotion of a language. But only events and promotions would not be enough to achieve our objective. We need to teach our
language to our next generation who are more comfortable with the English language. We should pass on our rich culture and heritage to our children."

Dr Frank takes great pride in his family; his wife Alice Fernandes, his four sons and a daughter who have been with him through his ups and downs and motivated him to achieve his life goals.

Dr Frank went through a difficult and emotional time due to the untimely death of his daughter Sharon and his son-in law in Dublin last year.

File Pictures: www.kemmannu.com

File Pictures: www.kemmannu.com