Amãna Bank Business Plus honours SMEs at Abimana SME Awards 2022

Abimana Award Recipients with key dignitaries 

 Abimana Award winner collecting her accolade from Central Province Governor Lalith U. Gamage, District Secretary / Government Agent for Kandy Chandana Tennakoon, Divisional Secretariat Akurana Secretary Indika Kumari Abeysinghe and Amãna Bank’s Kandy Head of Business Azam Ameer

Committed to fostering the growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), Amãna Bank along with its dedicated service platform Amãna Bank Business Plus partnered with the Divisional Secretariat Akurana and District Secretariat Kandy to host the inaugural Abimana SME Awards.  The Abimana SME awards recognised SMEs who have performed exceptionally well, contributing to the growth of the regional economy, where awards were bestowed under three categories, mainly large, medium and small, while also recognising women and youth entrepreneurship. 

The Abimana SME Awards 2022 witnessed the participation of Central Province Governor Lalith U. Gamage, District Secretary / Government Agent for Kandy Chandana Tennakoon, Divisional Secretariat Secretary Akurana Indika Kumari Abeysinghe, Amãna Bank’s Kandy Head of Business Azam Ameer, Amãna Bank’s Akurana Branch Manager Minsar Hameed, Kandy District SME Department Officials, AGA Office Akurana, Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Government employees, entrepreneurs, school students, and Trade association members and NGOs, creating a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere that celebrated and supported SMEs in the region.

Recipients of the Abimana SME Award for 2022 include RVS Products (Winner – Small), Amarsekera Industries (Runners-up – Small), Amore Ice Cream (Winner – Medium), Isura Batik Creations (Runners-up – Medium), Milano Foods (Winner – Large), Online Garments (Runners-up – Large), Newsis Ceylon (Emerging Youth Entrepreneur), Imathi Anthurium (Emerging Women Entrepreneur) and Lesly Edirinsighe (Special Appreciation Award). In addition to the special award winners, 55 entrepreneurs were bestowed with recognition certificates.

Commenting on the Abimana SME Awards, Central Province Governor Lalith U. Gamage said: “Abimana SME Awards is a great platform to recognise the contribution of the SME sector, which is the back-bone of our regional economy and congratulation goes out to all the award recipients.” Appreciating Amãna Bank’s partnership the Governor further said: “I am grateful towards Amãna Bank’s commitment to support a national agenda, despite market constraints and look forward to the Bank’s support in empowering the SMEs in the region.”

Addressing the audience District Secretary and Government Agent for Kandy Chandana Tennakoon said: “While congratulating all the winners, I would like to thank Amãna Bank for coming forward to build the Government and private sector synergy. It is a good message for the entire country. We are looking forward to work with Amãna Bank to support SMEs in the region with similar engagements.”

Also sharing his views at the award ceremony, Amãna Bank’s Kandy Head of Business Azam Ameer said: “This award platform serves as a testament to our unwavering dedication to empower entrepreneurs and drive growth of SMEs in Sri Lanka. With our dedicate and exclusive service platform Amãna Bank Business Plus, we provide robust support such as dedicated relationship manager, doorstep banking, online banking, payroll solutions along with a comprehensive suite of products and services to meet the wide array of financial needs of SMEs including, Capital Expenditure Financing, Working Capital Financing, Import and Export Financing, Trade Services, Machinery and Equipment Leasing, Permanent Overdraft, Cheque Discounting as well as solutions for Cash Collection and Investments. We remain committed to fostering the success of SMEs and will continue to innovate and expand offerings to further strengthen the business landscape in Sri Lanka.”