Nearly 100 micro and small business owners in the Marawila and Wennappuwa areas recently benefitted from a sustainable entrepreneurship development programme conducted for them by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon in collaboration with several other key institutions.
Organised under Commercial Bank’s ‘Dirishakthi Sustainable Entrepreneurship Development initiatives, the seminar cum workshop provided the knowledge required to improve their technical and financial literacy and other entrepreneurship skills as well as information on relevant topics including business registration procedures and the banking products and services available to them to grow their businesses.
Resource persons for the programme represented the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, key departments of the Divisional Secretariat of Wennappuwa and Commercial Bank’s own Development Credit Department and Agriculture and Micro Finance Unit (AMFU), as well senior officers of the Bank.
The Bank said the principal objectives of the programme were to enhance financial and entrepreneurship skills, increase access to finance, empower decision making and to contribute to community development.
Among the speakers at the event were Commercial Bank’s Regional Manager – Colombo North Mr Anura Tennakoon, the Central Bank’s Regional Manager – Anuradhapura Mr Aruna Wijesiri, the Assistant Director – Small Enterprises Development of the Wennappuwa Divisional Secretariat Mrs Chamila Sudarshi, and several representatives of Commercial Bank.
The programme was organised by the Bank’s Agriculture and Microfinance Unit of Marawila with the participation of the Bank’s branches in Wennappuwa, Nattandiya and Marawila.
Programmes of this nature are supported by Commercial Bank’s 19 AMFUs which play a key role in helping the Bank to identify specific needs of entrepreneurs who require assistance to develop either their agriculture activities or micro businesses. These units are dedicated to promoting agriculture lending and micro finance.
Commercial Bank’s AMFUs are located in Ratnapura, Narammala, Nawalapitiya, Marawila, Anuradhapura, Kilinochchi, Bandarawela, Wellawaya, Hingurakgoda, Galewela, Achchuveli, Vavuniya, Chenkalady, Deniyaya, Tissamaharama, Udugama, Pottuvil, Elpitiya, and Akkaraipattu.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, Commercial Bank is the largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World. The Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector, and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. Commercial Bank has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.
Photo caption:
The seminar in progress and the presentation of a sapling to one of the participants.
