Commercial Bank reaches out to SMEs in Gampaha and Puttalam

Thursday, 16 February 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently interacted with 160 entrepreneurs from the Gampaha and Puttalam districts at a program held in Wennappuwa as part of the bank’s on-going initiative to develop entrepreneurship skills within the SMEs in the country.

The resource person for the program was Chandana Gunawardena, a leading speaker on motivation and business development. The emphasis of the program was on empowerment of participants in the areas of business development and sustainability.

The program was attended by Commercial Bank Regional Manager (Colombo North) Dharshanie Perera, officers of the Development Credit Department of the bank and Branch Managers in the region. The Commercial Bank has been conducting similar programs for entrepreneurs in many areas of the country. The bank has to date conducted 59 Entrepreneurship Skill Development and Capacity Building programs in the Northern, Eastern, North Central, Southern, Uva, Central and Western Provinces. These programs have benefited more than 5,200 entrepreneurs, the bank said. In May 2016 the bank also conducted a special program in Matara exclusively for women entrepreneurs. It was attended by more than 100 participants.

These programs are supported by the bank’s 15 Agriculture and Micro Finance Units (AMFUs) which play a key role in helping identify specific needs of people who require assistance to develop either their agriculture activities or micro businesses, and are dedicated to promoting agriculture lending and micro finance.

Commercial Bank’s AMFUs are located in Ratnapura, Narammala, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Kilinochchi, Bandarawela, Wellawaya, Hingurakgoda, Galewela, Atchuvely, Vavuniya, Kattankudy, Tissamaharama, Neluwa and Pottuvil.