A special event to announce the partnership was organised at the People's Bank Staff Training College recently.
The event was graced by the presence of Hon. Wimal Weerawansa - Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply Chain Management, M.A. Ranjith – Secretary, Ministry of Industries and Supply Chain Management, N.G. Panditharathna - Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries and Supply Chain Management, Upasena Dissanayake - Chairman of IDB, P.L.U. Rathnamalala - Director General of IDB, K.M.S.G. Bandara - Director Regional Development of IDB, together with Sujeewa Rajapakse - Chairman, Ranjith Kodituwakku - Chief Executive Officer / General Manager and Krishani Narangoda - Deputy General Manager (Enterprise Banking) together staff of People's Bank.
Based on the agreement, People’s Bank and the IDB have decided to empower around 5,000 MSMEs with technical and managerial support together with proper financial facilities to ensure sustainability of their businesses.
The main objective of the project is to develop the industries with greater potential for export, import substitution, domestic value addition and employment generation.
The project is to be financed by the customized credit facilities offered by People’s Bank. MSMEs recognized and strengthened managerially, technologically and via market accessibility by the IDB are directed to the Bank for financial support.
The respective loan amount will be decided based on the requirement and the financial feasibility and viability of the project.
The loans are to be considered subject to the conditions which are stipulated in the relevant SME loan products.
Follow up and review of the loans and the scaling of the businesses will be carried out by the People’s Bank in collaboration with IDB.
This is a historical movement in the banking industry where two government institutions join hands together to address a much needed requirement of developing entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka.
Now the customers can register with IDB and undergo a comprehensive training and finally develop a pragmatic business plan before they meet the bank manager.
Then the bank manager would be comfortable in evaluating the requirement of the customer and offering tailor-made and most suitable credit package required.
IDB has the strength of sourcing most potential customers through their regional centers across the country and developing them with their experienced staff.
People’s Bank has the largest outreach with specialized regional credit units to evaluate the proposals and develop customer relationships through its largest branch network.
