CSE and USAID conduct ‘Issuer Forum’ in Kandy providing insights on capital raising opportunities for SMEs

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) conducted an Issuer Forum titled ‘A New Approach for the Future of Your Business’, in association with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on November 29 in Kandy.
The objective of the forum was to provide an insight for small and medium enterprises to discover capital-raising opportunities available at the CSE via listing on the Empower and Diri Savi Boards of the Exchange. Thus, the programme was mostly oriented towards companies in agribusinesses, livestock, energy generation, and tourism-related businesses. 

The forum drew interest from many entrepreneurs in the area. The delegation included  Suraj Suraweera, CEO, Chrissworld PLC, Rohan Senewiratne, Managing Director, Atarah Capital (Pvt) Ltd., Delrene Seneviratne, Deputy Activity Team Lead, USAID Palladium, Jude Fernando,  Director Financial Facilitation, USAID Palladium, and representing CSE, Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO, Punyamali Saparamadu, SVP–Commercial, Kassapa Weerasekara, Senior Assistant Manager–Listing, USAID staff, Dananjaya Abeysiriwardana Manager Kandy branch and CSE staff members.  
Delivering the opening remarks, CSE CEO, Rajeeva Bandaranaike said, “Having sustainable capital flows and financial freedom is important in reaching greater heights for a business which can  be achieved through capital market instruments.
Expressing his experience with listing, Suraj Suraweera, CEO, Chrissworld PLC stated, “Listing has led Chrissworld to obtain recognition and attract quality talent; the value addition from the listing has far outweighed the costs, and it has unlocked our true potential.”

Conducting a session on “Benefits and Misconceptions of Listing at CSE,” Rohan Seneviratne, Managing Director, Atarah Capital (Pvt) Ltd. stated, “One of the most important aspects of listings is price discovery to reveal a company’s true value, and the key pre-requisite for this will be the mindset change to comply with higher standards.”
An insightful panel discussion was also held on the subject of “Journey towards listing and life after listing” towards the end of the forum, with the participation of Delrene Seneviratne, Rohan Senewiratne, Suraj Suraweera, Kassapa Weerasekara and Punyamali Saparamadu as the moderator.