16 March 2024 12:00 am Views - 134
More than 200 women small and medium entrepreneurs (WSMEs) attended a knowledge sharing session organised and hosted by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently as part of the bank’s celebration of International Women’s Day.
The event held at Waters Edge, was supported by ‘Anagi’ – the bank’s portfolio of banking products and services exclusive to female customers.
The keynote speaker at the event was Dr. Dilesha Perera – Co founder of La Vivente (Pvt) Ltd., while Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma – Chairman of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) Nayomini Weerasooriya – Founder of Satyn mag and Sepalika Jayawardhana – Director – Regional Development at the Export Development Board(EDB) were the panelists.
The presentations at the knowledge-sharing session covered industry insights, details and guidance on setting up an export business and dealing with local authorities for SME businesses.A question and answer session that followed saw the active participation of invitees.
Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge, Chief Operating Officer S. Prabagar, and senior, corporate management members were also present at the event,demonstrating the importance accorded by the Bank to women’s empowerment.
Commercial Bank’s Anagi Women’s Banking portfolio was designed in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work programme, using the latter’s expertise in increasing access to finance for women, an important but under-served segment.
The portfolio comprises of the ‘Anagi Women’s Savings Account,’ the ‘Anagi Business Loan for Women Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (WSME)’ credit cards and other products and services including non-financial benefits designed to contribute to the empowerment of women and to help expand their financial horizons.