Commercial Bank conducts ‘Diribala’ seminar for Ratnapura entrepreneurs
Saturday, 15 November 2014 00:10
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More than 100 entrepreneurs of the Ratnapura District benefitted from a seminar organised recently by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon under its ‘Diribala Viyapara Pubuduwa’ program, designed to develop the entrepreneurial skills of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The latest seminar emphasised the importance of striking a balance between business and stakeholder needs while enhancing productivity ethically and provided an insight into how this can be achieved, the bank said.
Entrepreneurs from the Pelmadulla, Kahawatte, Balangoda, Godakawela and Kuruwita areas attended the seminar, which was conducted by Dharshana Welikala, a corporate trainer and consultant.
This was the 21st such seminar conducted by the bank for the SME sector. Seminars conducted in 2014 in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Ratnapura have benefitted more than 500 entrepreneurs.
The ‘Diribala’ development loan scheme of Commercial Bank is the only dedicated credit line offered by a bank in Sri Lanka for the benefit of SMEs in the country. Special attention is focused on the SME sector due to its high contribution to GDP, employment creation and export earnings of the country, the bank said. ‘Diribala’ loans are offered under attractive and flexible terms to help SMEs develop their business activities.
Ranked the ‘Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2014’ by The Asian Banker and the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks in the world for four consecutive years, Commercial Bank was also named the most valuable private sector brand in the country in 2014.
The bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank over several years, was adjudged one of the country’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and has been rated the Most Respected Bank in Sri Lanka by LMD for the past 10 years.
It has also been the second Most Respected Corporate entity in the country overall for the past four years in the LMD rankings and has been rated No.1 in Sri Lanka for honesty in 2013 and 2014 by the magazine.
