Signs MoU to create strategic platform to extend financial solutions to SME exporters in particular
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) to create another platform to extend financial solutions to the country’s exporters, with emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ratified by the two organisations paves the way for enhanced and focused access to the Chamber’s membership. This partnership will also see the extension of the Bank’s commitment to encourage and strengthen SMEs engaged in the export market, and the delivery of a full range of international banking capabilities and expertise to facilitate the growth of business for exporters, the Bank said.
The MoU between the Bank and the Chamber was signed by Commercial Bank’s Assistant General Manager – Personal Banking/SME Mr S. Ganeshan and the Director Operations of the National Chamber of Exporters Mrs Menaka Wanniarachchi.
Classified as a Higher-tier Domestic Systemically Important Bank (D-SIB) by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is the single largest lender to the SME sector among all state-owned, private and specialised banks in the country, and channels more than 18% of Sri Lanka’s export volumes.
The National Chamber of Exporters traces its origins to 1986 when the National Exporters Association (NEA) was established to support exporters of Sri Lanka. In 1994 the NEA was incorporated as the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka, becoming the only trade chamber serving the country’s export sector exclusively. Membership of the chamber is open to all exporters of products and services and suppliers of products and services to the export industry.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 12 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 940 automated machines in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.