NDB Investment Bank Limited and the National Development Bank PLC conducted a knowledge sharing session recently, providing a holistic view on alternative sources of funding.
The Forum focused on assisting local businesses including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to navigate and financially transform their businesses towards the next phase of growth through such funding. The forum, which was hosted in a hybrid form with participants attending physically and virtually, with over 400 participants in total.
The forum was launched as a convenient platform to provide insights and solutions to the major challenges faced by entrepreneurs and other corporate businesses while addressing and highlighting the importance of the key areas in investment banking such as forms of Debt Financing, Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
The forum featured an engaging panel discussion followed by an interactive Q & A session.
The panel comprised Chief Regulatory Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Renuka Wijayawardhana, Chairman, Uni Power, Jayantha Rajapakse, Director and Group CEO of NDB Bank, Dimantha Seneviratne, CEO of NDB Capital Holdings, Senaka Kakiriwaragodage, CEO of NDB Investment Bank, Darshan Perera and Vice President, SME Middle Market and Business Banking of NDB Bank, Indika Ranaweera.
The Q&A was moderated by Head of Corporate Advisory of NDB Investment Bank, Nilendra Weerasinghe, while the presentation on Financial Options was made by Vice President of NDB Wealth Management, Ms. Vindhya Jayasekara.Director and Group CEO Dimantha Seneviratne said that the timing of empowering SMEs could not be more relevant.
As the global economy is on a recovery from the effects of the pandemic, SMEs play a critical role in that process. Banks and other financing institutions have a tremendous responsibility in supporting and empowering SMEs with not just financing but also with knowledge on the various options that are available to them which would propel them towards sustained growth.
He said that SMEs and others who seek alternate financing options now have a conducive environment, particularly with tax concessions introduced for IPOs.