HDFC Bank teams up with NEDA for SME development

HDFC Bank General Manager/CEO Upali Hettiarachchi and the NEDA Chairman/Director General Omar Kamil shake hands after signing of the MoU in the presence of  HDFC Bank  Chairman R.J. De Silva, Chief Operating Officer S. Dissanayake and NEDA Director Lakxman Wijewardana

HDFC Bank of Sri Lanka, signed a Memorandum of Understanding between HDFC Bank and the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) for developing the SME sector in Sri Lanka. The signing of the MOU was between HDFC Bank General Manager/CEO Upali Hettiarachchi and NEDA Chairman/Director General Omar Kamil.                                                                   

With this move HDFC Bank will act as the official Banker of NEDA Entrepreneurship Development Programs. 

NEDA is a Government institution which promotes, supports, encourage and find suitable financial assistance for the development of Small and Medium Industries in Sri Lanka. 

With this initiative, both organisations will work together for the development of the SME sector in Sri Lanka. Small and Medium Enterprises play a crucial role in the economic development process and helps to alleviate poverty and find solutions for unemployment in the country. 

Through this effort, the HDFC bank and NEDA expect to create opportunities for small and medium scale businesses to diversify towards industrial and economic growth, empower people, build human capital with technical skills as an integral component of enterprise development and facilitate access to finances required for enterprise growth. 

The HDFC-NEDA partnership plans to help strengthen demand driven technology transfer, organise training and skills development programs, strengthen the entrepreneurship value thinking and attitudes in the curriculum of primary, secondary, tertiary educational institutions and technical and vocational programs to produce job creators rather than employment seekers.

In addition, special programs are planned to develop Women and Youth entrepreneurship development and strengthen the institutional capacity of training institutions and support women led SME and new women entrepreneurs and will carry out through various measures such as strengthen women chambers and rewarding women entrepreneurs. 

In achieving the objectives of this initiative, the HDFC Bank will coordinate with NEDA to explore the possibilities of promoting credit facilities among the prospective Micro Small Medium Enterprises identified by the bank. The bank will assist MSME to make aware of the capacity building programs on entrepreneurship development.

The NEDA will arrange to introduce viable MSME to the HDFC Bank in need of financial assistance for SME Development, eligible under various development credit schemes available in the bank. 

Both organisations will jointly organise knowledge sharing training and capacity building programs, entrepreneurship development, financial literacy credit clinics, recovery programs and also will work to minimise knowledge gap between MSMEs and related institutions of the country for the MSME with the professionals in the SME sector on periodical basis.