NDB Bank, IFC drive SMEs to meet tomorrow’s challenges today

NDB Bank hosted a training workshop in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, to empower and educate the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector of Matara recently.

This workshop was inaugurated by Raja Hewabowala, the President of the Chamber of Commerce Matara and Yasas Hewage, Asst. Vice President, Branch Sales and Strategy of NDB Bank.

The topics covered at the session included SME and retail banking for entrepreneurs, principles of marketing, information technology for entrepreneurs, positive thinking and book keeping and taxation. The panel of speakers included Hewage, C.C.D Samarakkody, Premapala Pathirana and Saman Rasaputhra who covered the topics respectively.

The session reiterates NDB Bank’s commitment to the SMEs and is part of a series of continuous initiatives taken to develop and grow the SME sector while strengthening their long-standing business partnership.

“The SME sector represents the engine of growth of our country and is critical for job creation, entrepreneurship and income generation.

Post war, SMEs have become a key area of focus and NDB Bank is committed to developing this sector by educating and encouraging local businesses to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies to take on the emerging SME opportunities. We are grateful that IFC has come on board this project and also the Chamber of Commerce, with whom we hope to work long-term to take this to the rest of the country. As a pioneer in SME lending, we are proud to add value to this highly important sector,” said Raj Aboobucker, Vice President/Head of SME and Retail Banking.

IFC, as partner to NDB’s initiatives towards SME development, provided the bank with advisory services on how these workshops should be structured to create an increased impact amongst participants.

 IFC also recommended the mechanisms for an evaluation process to be carried out periodically to assess the impact of the workshop on the day-to-day workings of participating entrepreneurs.

Presentations with interactive sessions were carried out by NDB Bank during the full day workshop, which saw participants from the tea, cinnamon, fisheries, wholesale retailers, and ice manufacturing sectors participating.

The response of the participants was positive and overwhelming. At the end of the sessions, the bank also rewarded the participants by presenting them with a certificate.

NDB Bank has over the years partnered many success stories of Sri Lanka and firmly believes that an entrepreneurial culture is essential for the sustainable development of a nation.

Entrepreneurial capabilities of the Sri Lankan youth have proven vital in a post conflict era and NDB Bank remains committed to empowering the development of entrepreneurial capabilities in people while partnering with them for their funding requirements.

Staying true to its business philosophy of ‘Changing Lives,’ NDB Bank – the pioneer in SME lending – has financed over 45,000 SME development projects directly and indirectly for over three decades.