The New Nation - Internet Edition

South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is collaborating with Eastern Bank Limited to increase the financing Opportunities available to Small and Medium Enterprises in Bangladesh. An agreement signed recently (March 16) between the two organisations, elaborates that IFC-SEDF will provide advisory services on operational risk management, human resource skill development, introduction of new small and medium enterprise lending products and strengthening of the information system. IFC-SEDF played an integral role in setting up the small and medium enterprise department of the bank and is now providing advisory services to strengthen their small and medium enterprise operations. "Small and medium enterprises require specialised financial products and services to meet their needs," asserted Roger Handberg, Programme Manager, IFC-SEDF, while speaking on the occasion.

Amongst the private banks, Eastern Bank Limited is already leading the way in small and medium enterprise financing. Speaking on the occasion, Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director and CEO of EBL said, "With proper tools and training, we are confident that we will be able to finance small and medium enterprises on a sustainable basis,"