May 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s premier private sector bank HNB PLC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PPOD Consultancies, a premier people and process assessment consultancy firm in Sri Lanka, to provide its SME customers with capacity development and consultancy in running key business functions.

The exclusive partnership enables HNB’s SME clientele to access much-needed consultation in the areas of accounting, finance, taxes, IT, value chain development, HR, and other specific capabilities concerning each industry. A special ceremony was held at HNB Towers to sign the MoU in the presence of HNB Deputy General Manager- Retail and SME Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne and PPDO Founder and Chairman, Stephen A. Paulraj.

“We, at HNB, understand that to sustain a successful SME business, an entrepreneur needs much more than financial support and investment capital. Determining a business’s success, regardless of its scale, depends on said entrepreneur’s capability to run the business’ key functions smoothly and efficiently. Given that HNB is a partner in all its client’s progress, we are excited to announce that we’ve partnered with PPOD Consultancies to provide our SME customers with fundamental capacity development sessions and consultancy to build and grow their SME successfully,” states HNB Head of SME Products and Partnerships, Niluka T Amarasinghe.

The capacity development program initially covers general areas in business management and will be followed by a detailed session on specific business functions. Areas such as accounting, finance, taxes, and IT will be discussed in addition to key practices around issues in cash flow management, investment for expansion, poor tax payment practices, poor investment, use of IT, etc.

Once the initial stage is completed, customers will have access to a knowledge base that assists them in building business development plans including expansion and exports, upgrading facilities, HR & productivity management investments, and consolidations. The content of the program also discusses key concepts such as Cash flow management and its importance, Ratio analysis, Bookkeeping, and Basics of taxes to further enhance the financial literacy of entrepreneurs.

“As a premier consultancy firm assisting many organizations to unlock the best in their people and processes, we are honored to take on this partnership with HNB. Financial capital, while pivotal, is not the only criteria that determines the success of an organization. Assisting entrepreneurs to develop capacity and skills that build a sustainable business is a rewarding experience, and having a leader from the banking sector partnering with us truly solidifies our mission in the country” states PPDO Founder and Chairman, Stephen A. Paulraj.

The partnership offers HNB’s SME clientele access to said development programs in any preferred language (Sinhalese, Tamil and English) or in a mixed-mode, and the program will be conducted by experts and pioneers in the field who have already conducted similar successful sessions with HNB previously. Details with regards to this capacity development program can be found on HNB’s official website.