CSE and USAID conducted an Issuer Forum in Kandy, providing insights on capital raising opportunities for SMEs in the region

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) conducted an Issuer Forum titled “ඔබේ ව්‍යපාරයේ ඉදිරි ගමනට නව ප්‍රවේශයක් (A New Approach for the Future of Your Business), in association with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on 29^th November 2023 in Kandy.

The objective of the forum was to provide an insight for small and medium enterprises to discover capital-raising opportunities available at the CSE via listing on the Empower and Dirisavi Boards of the Exchange. Thus, the program was mostly oriented towards companies in agribusinesses, livestock, energy generation, and tourism-related businesses.

The forum drew interest from many entrepreneurs in the area. The delegation included  Mr. Suraj Suraweera, CEO, Chrissworld PLC, Mr. Rohan Senewiratne, Managing Director, Atarah Capital (Pvt) Ltd., Ms. Delrene Seneviratne, Deputy Activity Team Lead, USAID Palladium, Mr. Jude Fernando,  Director Financial Facilitation, USAID Palladium, and representing CSE, Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO, Ms. Punyamali Saparamadu, SVP–Commercial, Mr. Kassapa Weerasekara, Senior Assistant Manager–Listing, USAID staff, Mr. Dananjaya Abeysiriwardana Manager Kandy branch and CSE staff members.  

Delivering the opening remarks, CSE CEO, Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, said, “Having sustainable capital flows and financial freedom is important in reaching greater heights for a business which can  be achieved through capital market instruments.

Expressing his experience with listing, Mr. Suraj Suraweera, CEO, Chrissworld PLC, stated, “Listing has led Chrissworld to obtain recognition and attract quality talent; the value addition from the listing has far outweighed the costs, and it has unlocked our true potential.”

Conducting a session on “Benefits and Misconceptions of Listing at CSE,” Mr. Rohan Seneviratne, Managing Director, Atarah Capital (Pvt) Ltd., stated, “One of the most important aspects of listings is price discovery to reveal a company’s true value, and the key pre-requisite for this will be the mindset change to comply with higher standards.”