Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Wednesday, 30 July 2025 14:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
CMA Sri Lanka SME Development Committee comprising members from Professional Bodies, Commercial Banks, Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Industry Experts hosted the “CMA Sri Lanka MSME Business Development Summit 2025” and the “CMA Sri Lanka MSME Business Excellence Awards 2025” to celebrate United Nations - Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day to raise public awareness of their contribution to sustainable development and the global economy with the active participation of commercial banks, finance companies and their MSME customers on Friday, 27th June 2025 at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH Colombo.
One of the significant achievements of the CMA Sri Lanka SME Development Committee was the recommendation made to the Ministry of Industries in 2020 to submit a Cabinet Paper to reactivate the SME Credit Guarantee Institution which had been an approved project with ADB funding but was put in cold storage since 2016 and with tremendous push from the then Minister of Industries was approved by cabinet in early 2021 and handed over to the Finance Ministry External Resources Departmentand the National Credit Guarantee Institution (NCGI) was officially launched on Monday 2nd June 2025fulfilling a great need to support those SMEs that are unable to provide collateral or security to banks. This will benefit and promote start up young entrepreneurs and women led SMEs and many others who are unable to provide collateral to obtain funding to start projects. Today we will honour those who made this possible – The ADB, Ministry of Industries and the External Resources Department Ministry of Finance.
The MSMEs Day 2025, hosted at the United Nations in New York, will focus on the theme “Business for MSMEs – Connecting the Entrepreneurs.” Organized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), the event will highlight the critical role of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in driving global economic growth and fostering innovation. Leaders from the business, policy, and entrepreneurial sectors will gather to discuss strategies for connecting MSMEs with the resources they need, including finance, technology, and market access.
Let's not forget that these enterprises, which generally employ fewer than 250 persons, are the backbone of most economies worldwide including Sri Lanka and play a key role in developing countries. In Sri Lanka, MSMEs comprise more than 75% of enterprises and account for 52% of GDP, 45% of employment, and a meagre 5% in exports.
The UN General Assembly has declared 27 June Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, to raise public awareness of their contribution to sustainable development and the global economy.
The Summit will address the significance of the Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises on the UN MSME day which is a global event to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We on this special day conducted the “CMA Sri Lanka MSME Business Development Summit 2025” and “CMA Sri Lanka MSME Business Excellence Awards 2025” to recognize the MSMEs for their outstanding and important role and contribution to the economic development of Sri Lanka. The financial period for the awards was 1st Jan to 31st December 2024 and 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
The CMA Sri Lanka MSME Business Excellence Awards 2025 consisted of the following:
The committee has also recommended (a) Setting up of Export Houses to promote exports of MSMEs (b) Definition for MSMEs (c) MSME Development Act to provide a legal framework and safeguard MSMEs (d)Maintenance of Accounting books and records, (e) Pricing & Costing of products and services (f) Digitization & e-Commerce (g) Unemployment to Entrepreneurship.
