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Tuesday, 24 December 2019 01:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Best Entrepreneur - Small
Best Entrepreneur - Micro
Best Entrepreneur - Upcoming
Berendina felicitated their most successful 60 clients who have emerged as Micro and Small entrepreneurs at an award ceremony held on 13 December at the Auditorium of Centre for Banking Studies, Rajagiriya.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka Assistant Governor J.P.R. Karunarathne was the Chief Guest at this event. A large gathering of representatives from the Government, Private Sector Civil Society Development Organisations have graced this occasion.
This event, which was the eighth in the history of Berendina has showcased the real impact of microfinance as an effective intervention in the economic empowerment of low-income people to become productive contributors to the mainstream economy of the country.
This year the awards were given under five categories: i) Emerging enterprise (less than two years in operation); ii) Agro-based enterprise; iii) Livestock-based enterprise; iv) Micro-enterprise among sub-sectors (manufacturing; services and trading); and v) Small enterprise.
E-Kade.com
Creating an opportunity for small producers to approach wider markets through modern e-commerce technology advancements, at this event BMIC launched an E-market platform called E-Kade.com.
Pioneering this sector, E-Kade.com will provide marketing opportunities for any small producer as far as their products meet the quality standards required by the market. BMIC will provide training and other support services to producers linked to E-Kade.com, to improve their product quality and supply base to meet the market demand in the future.
Berendina, one of the largest development organisations in Sri Lanka implements effective micro-finance services through Berendina Micro Investments Company Ltd (BMIC) since 2007. BMIC is the first microfinance company licensed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which operates in 11 districts in the country through 30 branches covering a clientele of 87,000.
Within the first 10 months of 2019, BMIC has disbursed Rs. 2.6 billion as loans to low-income people and maintains a loan outstanding balance over Rs. 3 billion.
Applying microfinance as a tool to break the vicious cycle of poverty, BMIC practices a careful assessment of credit worthiness when making credit decisions, and offers a low-interest rate, which is much lower than the CAP rate recommended by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for microfinance loans of regulated financial institutions.
Complementing its microfinance component, BMIC also offers a package of enterprise development services (EDS), using 10 % of its annual budget. EDS entails capacity development in the technical and entrepreneurial aspects and soft skills as required by their loan borrowers.
Further assistance given on individual basis are business counselling and advisory services, market linkages, environment conservation, etc. More than 40,000 clients have acquired services under EDS in a year. BMIC has a team of 30 Enterprise Development Officers and Managers dedicated for EDS in addition to 228 field level Credit Officers and Managers who conduct regular follow-up of credit-utilisation.
Berendina: Truly non-profit
The marginal profits earned by BMIC have been given only to the two NGOs in the Berendina family in Sri Lanka. They are Berendina Development Services (BDS) and Berendina Employment Centre (BEC). Both these organisations work in seven districts of the country having a budget of over Rs. 230 million a year.
The funding is currently provided by Berendina Stichting of the Netherlands and BMIC. While BEC is dedicated to the enhancement of educational opportunities for youth to find skilled employment, BDS provides other development services in the sectors of water and sanitation, livelihood development, disaster management, and advocacy and lobbying. The services of these two NGOs are provided free-of-charge.
Best Entrepreneur - Agriculture
Best Entrepreneur - Animal Husbandry
