The Regional Development Bank (RDB) launched the RDB Welanda Sabhawa programme in line with the Bank’s effort and commitment to empower Sri Lankans.
The RDB Welanda Sabhawa is a forum targeting small and medium scale entrepreneurs, to assist them in venturing into new businesses and developing existing businesses as well as educating them on a range of issues. The programme covers issues arising from accounting, marketing, human resource management to productivity offering comprehensive details on how to manage the challenges from these segments.
The initial programme at Dankotuwa enrolled more than 200 small and medium scale entrepreneurs from the Puttalam district. The programme addressed several general issues faced by entrepreneurs while dealing with banks. The areas covered included, how to develop a business plan and importance of having a business plan, how to approach a bank, correct utilisation of funds and developing and retaining businesses.
Sessions from experts in their respective fields were also a part of the programme agenda where Nandadasa Rajapaksa, Chairman of DSI Group talked of Developing Entrepreneurship and Patrick Amarasinghe, President of the Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka spoke of the importance of developing 
a business plan. The participants were also given an opportunity to listen to the success stories of 
K A D Arunasiri Appuhami and J M Jayasinghe who are successful entrepreneurs from the district.
A question and answer session during the programme gave the participants an opportunity to discuss and clarify areas that needed further explanation. Questions that couldn’t be addressed at that moment were noted down so that the relevant participants could be notified later on. The bank hopes to conduct Welanda Sabhawa programmes throughout the island covering each and every province.
