Delakshan Hettiarachchi

A timely new initiative by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon to build a digital ecosystem to help Sri Lankan businesses reach international markets is witnessing encouraging traction, with more than 5,000 members onboarded in just three months. In this interview, the bank’s Deputy General Manager – Personal Banking Delakshan Hettiarachchi elaborates on what Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker is all about.
Excerpts: 

About three months ago, the Bank unveiled Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker. Can you outline what this platform is?

Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker is a digital platform designed to help businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to transition to the global market by digitizing and networking with other businesses across borders.

The platform offers a wide range of opportunities and facilities to grow and to be competitive in the global landscape. This is achieved by becoming part of a community of businesses, having access to the tools for ecommerce and by becoming privy to helpful data and information.
Under the community aspect, Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker enables businesses to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. This paves the way for them to network with others, develop value chains, share ideas and collaborate. Sharing of knowledge and expertise, helping businesses on the platform to learn from each other and stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices are some of the benefits.

The platform also offers a range of business tools to create online e-commerce stores, a business website builder, and a digital marketing tool kit that helps businesses to grow and reach a wider audience. 

What are the specific objectives of the LEAP platform?

As the largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank considers it a national duty to support and empower local businesses, specially SMEs, to grow and conquer global markets, which is the primary objective of the platform. 
Innovative, digitized methods are the need of the hour to boost exports and increase foreign exchange earnings. With the launch of Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker, Commercial Bank is taking its support to SMEs and corporates to the next level by offering them access to global networks, cutting-edge technology, and a wide range of business services that will help them stay competitive in fast-paced international markets.

The platform is built in compliance with international standards and is powered by GlobalLinker, an international business enabling platform, making it possible for SMEs and the bank’s corporate customers to create online stores and to promote their products and services, expand their network of customers, investors, and suppliers from across the world, improve business networking, tap overseas markets, access exclusive offers and benefits from partners, attract feasible business opportunities, and get discovered by a wider audience. 
As it is a secure platform for communication, it is also feasible for sharing ideas, collaborations and learning. This platform also has a separate section dedicated to women entrepreneurs, offering them an extensive array of specially-designed products and services through our Anagi Women’s Banking portfolio.  

What are the business services that the platform provides?

Commercial Bank LEAP offers a range of business services, such as financial, marketing, logistics and shipping services, and provides businesses with access to various business intelligence tools. These tools provide valuable insights by enabling entrepreneurs to analyse their performance, track their sales and marketing activities, and monitor their online reputation.
The benefits of the platform encompass business promotion, networking opportunities, access to finance, global presence, business services and business intelligence.  The platform connects businesses with investors and facilitates funding opportunities, and through GlobalLinker, the platform links with businesses and potential customers in more than 150 countries.   

What has the response been during the three months since the launch of the platform?

The response has been very encouraging. We have more than 5,000 entrepreneurs already on the platform and member acquisition continues at a satisfactory pace. We are building familiarity and trust among the business owners on the platform to use its products and services and the volume of networking, searching for new business opportunities and knowledge sharing is increasing steadily. We are now working closely with prospective partners for onboarding, including trade chambers and trade associations to create more value on the platform.

How has the external environment impacted progress of this initiative?

The situation in the country actually provides additional motivation for businesses to join a platform like Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker. Even in good times it is not easy for a small or mid-sized business to enter the global arena, despite the quantum leap we have experienced in digitization and the extensive social media landscape. 
Given the challenging economic conditions that prevail, it is extra difficult for businesses to explore the cross-border opportunities feasibly. A digitized ecosystem with an in-built support system together with the personalised services of professional bankers, is therefore a timely initiative to uplift local businesses. There is growing enthusiasm among entrepreneurs to join the platform.

How do you see LEAP evolving in the face of the existing challenges?

We plan to introduce many more exciting and localised offers for our customers, in collaboration with leading businesses in Sri Lanka. 

How can organisations like the IFC help further develop this initiative?

We are thankful to the IFC for being a constant partner in our journey, allowing us to offer unique and personalised services to our customers. The IFC brings to us the full width of its global knowledge and experience, enabling the Bank to implement processes and systems that are in sync with the latest international developments and enable our customers to leapfrog into the era of digitisation and the access it offers. 
We look at winning case studies from similar markets and even create inter-industry partnerships to serve unique customer segments. IFC is a valuable partner that has been with us, sharing their expertise, knowledge of different markets and of course, providing us financial assistance wherever necessary. 
GlobalLinker is an award-winning business platform powering the growth of SMEs globally. Global perspectives and knowledge sharing are key factors for the growth of business.
Through joining Commercial Bank LEAP GlobalLinker local industries will be supported to grow and empowered to enter into cross border trade.