A banking roadshow at Ratnapura has been organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in an effort to improve the sustainability of bank funding for Small Business Enterprises (SME’s). The roadshow is one of a series led by IFC Advisory Services, and funded by the Norwegian Government. It is part of a continued effort by the IFC to promote ties between banks and small businesses.

‘The initiative has been going for two and a half years’ said IFC’s Deva de Silva, ‘we have established a monitoring and evaluation program which we hope will improve the success rate of small businesses who take out bank loans.

‘With inflation and other economic difficulties we haven’t yet seen any direct improvement in loan defaults, which currently stands at 5-7% average, but this is exactly why we have put these processes in place’.

The Ratnapura road show, which will take place at Samudi Reception Hall on October 17th and 18th, is designed to provide a local forum for small and medium enterprises to meet with banks that want their custom. Small businesses will be given the opportunity to discuss the issues they have, and learn about the support available to them – for instance, help in handling complex loan applications and preparing business plans and project proposals. Entrepreneurs will be able to seek advice from various organizations at the roadshow, on subjects such as incentives, services and concessions available from the respective institutions.

The IFC’s program also includes advice and training for IFC partner banks to improve their skills in handling SME’s. ‘We want to nurture better interaction between the banks and the business customers’ De Silva said.

‘We all know that 50% of GDP comes from the Western province’ he continued, ‘we want to focus on the growth and success of the SME sector in rural areas’.

The IFC intends to continue its SME sector funding growth through three main areas of activity: enabling access to finance; focusing on tourism, telecom and agriculture; and improving and reforming business environment processes. Through replication of a process that has seen worldwide success, IFC is hoping to see similar domestic successes.