By: Staff Writer
October 10, Colombo (LNW): The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (SLBA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalise and strengthen their ongoing partnership in promoting sustainable finance and financial inclusion in Sri Lanka.
The collaboration aims to build capacity on both the demand and supply sides of sustainable finance, supporting the advancement of Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap and National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
A key objective of this MoU is to improve access to finance for Sri Lanka’s private sector, with a particular focus on export-oriented value chains and SMEs to aid their sustainability transitions. The Ceylon Chamber’s Vision 2030:
Five Year Economic Plan (2025-2030) sets targets to increase exports to 30% of GDP and raise the SME contribution to 60% of GDP. With global trade increasingly emphasizing sustainability, the private sector must adapt quickly to remain competitive.
The Ceylon Chamber’s Vision 2030 highlights mobilization efforts to support Sri Lanka’s goal of achieving 70% renewable energy in electricity, reducing commercial energy intensity by 20%, and increasing climate adaptation and resilience, especially in sectors like agri-food.
SLBA, representing over 60% of Sri Lanka’s financial assets, has been actively backing the country’s green economy and financial inclusion through its Sustainable Banking Initiative (SBI) since 2015. The initiative has built internal banking capacity and partnered with other sectors to develop innovative sustainable finance solutions.
In 2023, the Ceylon Chamber, SLBA SBI, and the Sustainable Development Council collaborated to explore new sustainable finance solutions, focusing on creating a Blended Finance Facility to attract private capital to bridge gaps in key sectors through risk-sharing mechanisms.
The MoU between the Ceylon Chamber and SLBA, whilst strengthening the ongoing cooperation on blended finance initiative, also aims to extend support to Member companies of the two organisations with national and industry level engagement on their sustainability and climate strategies – on opportunities and risks (IFRS S1 and S2); in developing capacity to align financing needs and mobilisation in terms of Sri Lanka’s Green Finance Taxonomy
It aims to extend support to the member companies of both organizations, enhancing their sustainability and climate strategies. It also focuses on aligning their financing needs with Sri Lanka’s Green Finance Taxonomy and addressing opportunities and risks related to IFRS S1 and S2.
