Banking

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of all economies and are a key basis for economic growth, dynamism and flexibility in advanced industrialised countries, as well as in emerging and developing economies. Presently in Sri Lanka, SMEs of industries such as agriculture, dairy farming, leisure and fisheries are showing steady growth. NDB has dedicated over 30 years of customised financial expertise to this sector, taking into consideration the importance of SME’s to the national economy.

Whilst providing a range of dedicated financial solutions to empower the SME sector, NDB conducts comprehensive SME workshops conducted with focus on educating and developing the skills, knowledge and competencies of the entrepreneurs across the country. These workshops are designed to enlighten entrepreneurs on making best use of the many emerging opportunities. Presentations with interactive sessions are carried out during these full day workshops, targeting all SME’s within a specific geographic region and the sessions are customized to suit the varying needs of SMEs in the specific regions. The topics discussed at these sessions include SME & Retail Banking for Entrepreneurs, effective use of Information Technology for Entrepreneurship, principles of Marketing, Book Keeping techniques as well as knowledge on Taxation.

The panel of speakers includes resource personnel from universities, industry development board as well as officials from NDB with expertise in diverse fields such finance, marketing and risk management. In addition, financial advisors from NDB Group companies such as Stockbroking and Wealth Management also contribute to these workshops by sharing knowledge on wealth creation tools with the participants. At the end of the workshops, the participants are presented with a certificate as a further value addition to the entrepreneurs.

“NDB together with the support of IFC and the Chamber of Commerce have concluded nine workshops this year in the regions of Kaduwela, Chilaw, Ratnapura, Pilimatalawa, Moratuwa, Matugama, Kurunegala,Kuliyapitiya and Ambalantota. The response of the participants at the workshops has been positive and overwhelming. Such programmes reiterate NDB’s commitment to the SME sector and are part of a series of continuous initiatives taken to develop and grow the SMEs while creating the right environment for a long lasting business partnership. We hope to extend this initiative to all districts across the island in time to come” said Mr. Raj Aboobucker, Vice President and Head of SME and Retail Banking of NDB.

“The workshops are customised as fully fledged training modules that range from cultivation to fisheries and dairy farming based on the region and the industries represented by participants. Reaching beyond the conventional SME training systems, these workshops provide participants knowledge on SME finance and other wealth creation products such as stockbroking and retail banking products as well. NDB has a rich history of over 30 years of project financing expertise and SMEs have been a priority sector for the Bank throughout. The Bank has the right products and broad knowledge required to meet the diverse needs of the rapidly growing SME sector in the country and will stay focused in continuously developing the sector” he further stated.
NDB supports the SMEs through grants, loans and other low cost credit facilities coupled with the expertise of Professional Financial Advisors that assess the needs of customers, evaluate related risks, structure finance, monitor and supervise the credit facilities.

Amongst the products and services offered to SMEs are both long term and short term financing facilities complementing several products under these two categories. NDB also extends commercial banking facilities needed for the SME sector, which range from working capital financing to any other credit facilities required. NDB has devised special products to cater to the SME trading community, which is again an identified large sector.

Mr. Aboobucker, explaining the importance of SME and Entrepreneurs’ development to NDB stated “SME’s are the bedrock of employment generation and economic stimulation and we at NDB believe that SME’s form the backbone of the growth of Sri Lanka’s economic development. Our role focuses on two aspects; educating SME’s on entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion. Hence with the aim of educating the SMEs Bank conducts comprehensive workshops while financial inclusion is distributed through livelihood development schemes and Micro Financing aimed at the lower end of this sector. Bank’s recent introduction of a dedicated SME newsletter ‘Siyasavi’ which is published quarterly and distributed to all SME customers of the Bank further enables education and knowledge growth within the SMEs. We believe that NDB with its experience will be able to develop SMEs to take up the emerging opportunities to coincide with the growth in the sector. We will continue to invest in SMEs and constantly develop products that will enrich this sector.”

NDB also supports financial inclusion of the lower end of the industry and the hotelier industry. The launch of an effective programme called Divi Aruna last year, was taken across the country and has to date supported over 600 families. The launch of ‘Divi aruna’ was a community enrichment programme for those who had no access or knowledge to financing and was done in a bid to bring together a group of borrowers and encourage their participation. The effectiveness of the programme has enabled small time investment customers to migrate over to the SME sector.

“We invite all SME’s in the country to take advantage of NDB’s expertise and commitment to assist them. As a fully fledged financial organization, we have a responsibility to contribute to the country’s development process and hence pay special attention to SMEs. We understand that developing SMEs will lead to definite economic growth and we intend in extending support to all SMEs irrespective of their size and being a stronghold to them,” reiterates Mr.Aboobucker.

Follow @timesonlinelk

comments powered by Disqus

Nations Trust Bank-American Express Cards among the best

Nations Trust Bank takes 365 – day banking to Trincomalee

Asian Alliance Insurance – 11th Annual Sales Convention “Performance Highway”

“In today’s operating environment SMEs need much more than money” says DFCC Bank

Abans Finance to strengthen its public deposit base to enhance investments in lending operations

Prime Grameen ties up with OpenArc for Micro Finance Software Solution

Orient Finance ‘Uniquely Different’

HNB – Many People – One Bank