HNB concludes SME Capacity Building Programme in Southern Province
Leading SME lending institution, HNB PLC announced the conclusion of a capacity building programme hosted for its Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers in the Southern Province.
The programme is the latest in a series of initiatives organized annually by HNB across the island to support SME customers and provide them with skills needed to compete and thrive in local and international markets. The event focused on building financial literacy, HR management, resolving business challenges, assure compliance, provide visibility and improve management of supply chain for companies.
“As a pioneer in the field of SME lending, HNB has consistently worked to set the pace for the entire domestic industry. With these workshops, we wish to clearly reiterate the importance of going beyond transactional lending, instead bringing a more holistic view to SME lending that also seeks to provide them with the knowledge and technical expertise needed to optimize profitability.
“The experience we have gathered over the years working with the sector coupled with our extensive network, has cemented our presence amongst SMEs in the country. We strongly believe that our recent initiatives such as the creation of SME cells and the introduction of new technology-led services such as dealer financing have added value to the services and products of our SME clientele,” HNB Deputy General Manager – SME and Midmarket, Jude Fernando explained.
Complemented by an extensive island-wide retail presence, the bank is now working to cement its presence in the SME sector and has introduced new processes and technologies aimed squarely at creating unprecedented value for SME clients.
The SME capacity development workshop for customers in the Southern province was hosted on July 14, 2019, under the theme’ Sustainable Development Empowering the Small and Medium Enterprises’.
Among topics covered were basic accounting techniques, management of Human Resources, strategies to resolve commonplace business challenges, legal and regulatory compliance, and improvement of supply chain management.
The event was successfully conducted by CLOUD Consultancies – a leading educational institute in Sri Lanka. HNB will continue this process in other regions as well to further strengthen the financial knowledge of the bank’s valued clients.
About HNB
Operating across 250 customer centres across the country, HNB stands as Sri Lanka’s leading bank, having been recognised by several renowned international and local institutions for excellence in diverse fields. In 2018 HNB was recognised by the prestigious ‘Asian Banker Magazine’ as the ‘Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka’ for the tenth time. Rated AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd, HNB remains the most profitable private sector banking and financial services group in Sri Lanka.
