HNB partners with Cord360.com, Sri Lanka’s first-ever digital market place for exporters

From left: HNB Head of Trade and Financial Institutions Rozanne De Almeida, HNB Assistant General Manager Corporate Banking Majella Rodrigo, HNB Deputy General Manager – Retail and SME Banking Sanjay Wjemanne and HNB Deputy General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group Damith Pallewatte with Arava and Cord360 Chairman Asiri Gurusinghe, Arava and Cord360 Director Eresha Ayanthi Hewa Wellage, Arava Managing Director Arunasara Fernando, Arava Senior Manager, Rusiru Wijesekara, Arava Accountant Pamidu Gunathilake and Cord360 IT Executive Rajeewa Senarathna at the ceremony held to sign the MoU

Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC partnered with e-commerce platform Cord360.com to support exporters and ventures of local manufacturers to engage in new global supply chains.

The partnership will provide buyers and sellers with a “one-stop-shop” solution by engaging all HNB partners to support exports in areas of finance, logistics, packaging and market access through www.cord360.com.

“When travel is restricted and exports are challenged, it’s time to think outside the box and bring in innovation to boost trading and create value to Sri Lankan products. Having established our mark as the largest player in the SME and micro finance segments, we are now nurturing a clientele amongst emerging corporates who aspire to become the next big corporates in the country. We have been recognised with many local and international accolades for supporting the growth of tomorrow’s corporates, supply chains of existing corporates and socioeconomic progress of the largest category of entrepreneurs of the country. Connecting to international partners and finding markets is one of the critical challenges faced by exporters. Building market entry strategies and creating an image through promotion takes time, effort and money. Export brands do not appear overnight, and large investments are needed in such campaigns to penetrate a market overseas. That is where HNB partnership with Cord360 is pertinent, with the wealth of accessible information, it offers a different level of intelligence to our customers,” HNB Deputy General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group Damith Pallewatte said addressing the gathering.

The partnership with Cord360.com offers exporters a new digital path that has broken all traditional barriers to market entry. As an international online B2B platform created to connect to buyers and sellers of export goods, for the first time in Sri Lanka exporters can advertise in 10 different languages and post 40 plus industry products across six global regions.

“Gone are the days when international trading had to be connected through trade exhibitions with limited access to buyers or calling a broker to arrange for purchases or sales. With online trade negotiations, it’s all done in just a few clicks, and buyers and sellers have the opportunity to be directly connected. Online trade negotiation on a structured platform is very affordable. As increased number of buyers and trading companies access online opportunities, the cost of market research decreases considerably, and as a result allows exporters to benefit from higher income when successful deals are negotiated. There is greater control through online market seeking as trades can be negotiated at any time,” Cord360.com Chairman Dr. Asiri Gurusinghe said.

Customers can also negotiate trade on mobile devices or laptops, offering greater flexibility and freedom. Users can advertise their products on the platform to showcase their products to the world free of advertising expenses.

Users can also start trading as soon as an account has been set up and supported by HNB established systems and facilities as long as sufficient supplies are held with the trader or manufacturer.

Cord360.com, together with HNB, offers a whole new opportunity to Sri Lankan exporters with different trading strategies and the necessary financial solutions required to complete their international business transactions.

With 254 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative banks. It has won local and global recognition for its efforts to drive forward a new paradigm in digital banking. HNB is rated AA-(LKA) by Fitch Ratings and was recently ranked among the Top 1000 Banks in the World for the fourth successive year by the acclaimed ‘The Banker Magazine’ UK. HNB is also recognised as the ‘Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka’ by the ‘Asian Banker magazine’ on 11 occasions and is ranked amongst the top three companies in Sri Lanka by Business Today.