ComBank helps Northern farmers

The Manipai branch of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon and the Bank's Agriculture and Micro Finance Unit (AMFU) at Atchuvely in Jaffna recently conducted an awareness program for grape cultivators.

The program was conducted with the Central Bank at the Commercial Bank Training Centre in Manipai. It was inaugurated by the Bank's Regional Manager, Northern Region, S.P. Rajeevan.

Fifty farmers from the Manipai, Ilavalai, Vilan and Urumpirai areas, where the main cultivation is grapes, were present.

They were taught financial literacy by the Central Bank's Senior Manager, Northern Region, Mrs. Ranjini Vijayalan, while Mrs. Latha Janakan and Mrs. Meenalogini Baheerathan of the Agriculture Department, Thirunelvely, spoke on modern methods of grape cultivation.

The Commercial Bank has conducted programs for SMEs and micro entrepreneurs in Narammala, Galle, Monaragala, Wellawaya, Badulla, Passara, Bandarawela, Welimada, Weligama, Koggala, Karapitiya and Matara in the recent past.

The Bank has Agriculture and Micro Finance units in Ratnapura, Narammala, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Kilinochchi, Bandarawela, Wellawaya, Hingurakgoda, Galewela, Atchuvely, Vuvuniya and Tissamaharama.

They identify and support people who need financial assistance to start new or expand business, provide guidance on improving their businesses and help resolve difficulties.

One of the largest private banks in Sri Lanka and the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed three years consecutively in the world's top 1,000 banks, Commercial Bank operates a network of 235 branches and 588 ATMs.

Ranked as the most valuable private sector brand in the country in 2014, the Bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka's best bank over several years and was adjudged as one of the country's 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013.