Sampath Bank to strengthen SMEs through entrepreneur development drive

Wednesday, 9 October 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector plays a vital role in the country’s economy. It provides many employment opportunities, maximises the use of local resources, nurture entrepreneurship cultures and also saves foreign currency outflow from the country. In spite of the commendable contributions of SMEs to the country, some businesses and entrepreneurs in this sector do not posses the needed skills and right know-how to make the best out of their finances (funds).

SMEs are mostly proprietorships and lack financial discipline which affects the decisions taken on business, They often do not realise the importance of having a bank’s advice and compromise on the risk related to business especially the capital. In order to unleash and tap the full potential of SMEs, Sampath Bank as a part of its key CSR initiatives is actively engaged in developing entrepreneurs of this sector. The Entrepreneur Development Program of the bank mainly focuses on developing the lower and middle-scale SME entrepreneurs. The programs include components of entrepreneurs’ competency and skill development training, improvement of business management and planning knowledge, exposure of victorious entrepreneurs and business entities, financial assistance, recognition of successful entrepreneurs, follow up and business counselling The bank with the assistance of well-experienced organisations and eminent facilitators, conducts these customer training sessions (three-day programs) mainly in the Northern, Eastern, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and North-Central provinces (since SMEs in these provinces lag behind). The programs usually cover topics such as developing business plans, book keeping, developing social and environmental responsibilities etc. Programs especially for war widows in the Northern and Eastern provinces have been conducted towards the latter part of 2012. Sampath Bank is planning to hold five more such training programs (three-day/one-day) in the Southern, Central and Wayamba provinces in the near future. Furthermore, Sampath Bank has 210 branch access points and 20 regional offices island wide, especially to support SME sector customers. SME requests are handled by specialised staff and they handle request evaluations, provide advice, documentation, do on site visits and help

customers build relationships with the relevant communities/parties. The bank also uses specialised latest technique s available in the industry to determine the credit worthiness of the SME requests. Sampath Bank always strives to provide competitive rates for SME customers via specialized funds like Investment Fund Account introduced by the Government in 2012 budget to support the SME sector. Sampath, the bank that has pioneered many technological innovations in Sri Lanka, focuses on CSR initiatives where there is value creation in the longer term, thus demonstrating its commitment and respect to all its stakeholders.