Empowering Women Entrepreneurs with Commercial Bank Anagi for International Women’s Day

Commercial Bank recently celebrated International Women’s Day by connecting with women entrepreneurs on behalf of their women’s account Anagi. Held at the Water’s Edge on 12^th March 2024, the Commercial Bank Anagi Initiative “Empowering Her” for women entrepreneurs was celebrated with a presentation by the Founder/owner of La Vivente and Dilchand, Dr Dilesha Perera and a panel discussion featuring a team of distinguished guests and invitees.

The event was attended by Mr Sanath Manatunge, M.D/CEO of Commercial Bank, Mr. S. Prabagar, COO / Executive Director of Commercial Bank, Mr. Hasrath Munasinghe – DGM – Retail Banking & Marketing – Commercial Bank and other senior officials of the Bank.  

The event centred around empowering women entrepreneurs and driving their business success – the presentation made by Dr Dilesha Perera was informative and useful and provided great insights for business success. 

A presentation outlining the multitude of support services provided by the Industrial Development Board (IDB) of Sri Lanka for women entrepreneurs was made by Dr Saranga Alahapperuma, Chairman of IDB. He focused on areas of relevance and importance for women entrepreneurs who could make full use of those services to advance their business potential.

The panel discussion that followed was attended by Dr Dilesha Perera Founder & Owner of La Vivente and Dilchand , Dr Saranga Alahapperuma Chairman – IDB, Mrs Sepalika Jayawardhana -Director-Regional Development at Export Development Board and Mrs Nayomini R Weerasooriya, Founder/Managing Editor of www.satynmag.com and www.liya.lk.

The panel discussion was moderated by Mrs Kamalini Ellawala , Senior Manager – Sustainability, Women Banking and CSR at Commercial Bank. The panel contributed much in terms of sharing their experiences and expertise. Dr Dilesha touched on topics such as achieving a workable work life balance and managing a business, while Mrs Sepalika Jayawardhana encouraged and invited women entrepreneurs present to consider exports , assuring them of the support provided by the Export Development Board (EDB) for exporters. 

Dr Saranga Alahapperuma reiterated the backing the Government seeks to provide for entrepreneurs to expand and grow their businesses, providing them with access to services that encouraged and enhanced the ease of doing business in Sri Lanka.

Mrs Nayomini R Weerasooriya spoke of how Satynmag.com and Liya.lk empower women entrepreneurs by sharing knowledge and expertise on entrepreneurship and business development, while also encouraging  women entrepreneurs to enhance their digital footprint and take their businesses online.

Commenting on the programme, one of the women entrepreneurs in attendance, Mrs Enoka Wijayaratne who manages a wound care centre said that the programme was extremely useful and relevant for women entrepreneurs. “We learnt much and was able to gain many insights from it,” she stated.

Mrs. Chiranthi Attanayake, who runs Butterbeans Cakes and Cuddly Crafts was full of praise for the programme which she felt was very timely and informative for women entrepreneurs. Mrs. Sharmina Sarap, who runs M.H Group Total Solutions also found the programme extremely useful for her to expand her knowledge base.Many other women entrepreneurs present were encouraged by the information shared and truly felt they were empowered to add what they learnt to their businesses.

If you are a woman entrepreneur who is planning to build your business or expand your business, you too can benefit from opening an Anagi Account at any Commercial Bank branch, where special interest rates and special facilities await you.