Business
Sampath Bank signs MOU with AIMGSL, the body representing internationally-qualified professional marketers
Sampath Bank signed a mutually beneficial memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreeing to act as a corporate sponsor for the Association of International Marketing Graduates in Sri Lanka (AIMGSL).
The organization for professional marketers with globally-recognized marketing credentials, AIMGSL offers mentoring, counseling, hands-on training, workshops and networking opportunities to its members. Under the terms of this corporate sponsorship agreement–valid for a year, and renewable–Sampath Bank PLC will be entitled to a host of benefits at future functions including events and programmes scheduled for the next twelve months in the AIMGSL’s event calendar. In addition to this, the Bank will collaborate and propose ideas towards some of the industry specific initiatives and events organised by AIMG. Ensuring that a level of expertise, insight, and resources are emphasized for the benefit of industries and marketing professionals.
The organization has a tentatively scheduled 12-month event calendar that include a host of events, varying from CEO forums, retail events, networking events, panel discussions, viewpoints, seminars along with their annual conference.
“This agreement will benefit our entire membership,” enthused Sujith Silva, Chairman of the Association of International Marketing Graduates in Sri Lanka, who signed the agreement on behalf of the AIMGSL. “A keen awareness of financial matters is of paramount importance to marketing professionals, so associating with bankers and having senior bank officers on hand to provide clarifications and answers to questions at forums, will be enormously helpful moving forward, especially given the slippery slope the economy is currently on. We are determined to acknowledge and support the Banking and Financial industry in Sri Lanka, with the guidance of these professional marketers. In line of this, our goal is to inaugurate specific programmes and initiatives, which would be much informative. Continuing this long-lasting relationship between the Bank and the Sri Lankan Marketing fraternity, has been nothing but memorable to us all. Our members stand to learn a great deal from their banking counterparts, primarily from a well-established Bank such as Sampath Bank. In return, I hope to provide insights and knowledge which would be beneficial for them.”
“This is a landmark agreement for both parties,” agreed Senior DGM /Group Marketing, Deposit Mobilization and Digitalization, Tharaka Ranwala, who signed the agreement on behalf of Sampath Bank PLC. “AIMGSL’s marketing professionals are qualified and poised to launch consumer and business-to-business campaigns that can jump-start the economy and get the country moving again. We’re excited to participate in the association’s annual events–we know how to help. Because strong banking partnerships, keeping an eye on bottom line issues at all times, and sound financial planning are the bedrock of successful marketing campaigns.”
Despite the contemporary obstacles faced by the banking sector in Sri Lanka, Sampath Bank has successfully maintained all its capital ratios well above regulatory requirements throughout Q1 2022. All the while, Sampath Bank has implemented all government-led moratorium schemes for eligible customer segments affected by the pandemic. The Bank’s digitalization strategy has also continued to prove its worth during these trying times by securing a more accessible and safer banking experience for customers.
Sampath Bank is a 100% local bank that has deeply rooted itself in the lives of the people of Sri Lanka. Established in 1987, the bank has become a state-of-the-art financial institution that continues to be a market leader today thanks to its constant innovation and customer focused approach to business. It has introduced many firsts to the Sri Lankan banking sector including introducing ATMs to Sri Lanka, extended banking hours, slip-less banking and adaptation of block-chain technology to name a few. As part of its visionary 2022 approach, the bank is steadily transforming itself into a ‘tech company engaged in banking,’ from the traditional approach of a bank adopting technology.
Sri Lanka has launched a National Digital Signing Framework, a foundational initiative paving the way for paperless governance. This strategic move eliminates the need for physical signatures and documents in government transactions, aiming to dramatically enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility for citizens and businesses. An analyst said that this could accelerate Sri Lanka’s governance and commercial relationships with other countries as traditional signatures make room for digitally signed documents accepted by the government.
In this significant step toward accelerating Sri Lanka’s digital transformation, eMudhra, a global leader in digital identity and security solutions, has entered into a strategic partnership with LankaSign the only Certification Service Provider (CSP) in the country that complies with the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006, operated by LankaPay, Sri Lanka’s national payment network during recently held inauguration of INFOTEL 2025 ICT exhibition at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Exhibition Hall.
The LankaSign–eMudhra partnership brings together the strengths of LankaPay’s legally recognized digital signing certificates issued via LankaSign – the pioneering digital Certification Service Provider in Sri Lanka established in 2009 – and eMudhra’s globally trusted emSigner platform, which has enabled secure digital document signing across more than 68 countries since 2008. Through this collaboration, Sri Lankan citizens and businesses will be able to experience a seamless, secure, and user-friendly digital signing solution, enabling documents to be signed anytime, anywhere using iOS, Android, or web-based applications.
This partnership with eMudhra aligns with the national agenda to promote adoption of digital documents, reduce dependency on paper-based processes, and facilitate a more efficient, transparent, and secure digital economy. This collaboration aims to support the government’s long-term digitalization roadmap by enabling a secure digital documentation layer essential for e-government services, digital finance, and digital transformation.
By Sanath Nanayakkare
In a significant move to accelerate technological innovation in Sri Lanka, Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, and the Dialog-University of Moratuwa (UoM) Research Lab, has announced the release of SinhalaVITS, a state-of-the-art, open-source Text-to-Speech (TTS) model for the Sinhala language.
This non-commercial initiative delivers a powerful, high-quality, and natural-sounding Sinhala voice model to the public, making it freely accessible to developers, researchers, and students. The model is available for download on Hugging Face, the world’s largest open-source AI community, empowering anyone to build and experiment with advanced voice technology.
The SinhalaVITS model is the result of a deep-rooted collaboration that unites Dialog’s industry leadership with the academic excellence of the Dialog–UoM Mobile Communications Research Lab, fulfilling a vital need within Sri Lanka’s tech community for accessible, high-performance tools that drive innovation. By removing cost and licensing barriers tied to proprietary software, Dialog is empowering developers and researchers while fostering a more inclusive, collaborative, and future-ready AI ecosystem. This initiative further reinforces Dialog’s commitment to advancing Sri Lanka’s digital future—investing in open-source technology and academic partnerships to nurture local talent and lay the foundation for next-generation digital services built by Sri Lankans, for Sri Lankans.
The Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB PLC) commemorated raising LKR 10 bn with its first ever issuance of sustainable bonds by way of a market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) last week.
The 9th December issuance of 100 mn listed, rated, unsecured senior sustainable bonds, in five year and seven-year tenors, with a par value of LKR 100/- and rated “AA-(lka)” By Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited, was oversubscribed on the same day, raising LKR 10 bn.
Sustainable bonds, which were launched in Sri Lanka for the first time this year, are part of a series of GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainable & Sustainability Linked) debt instruments. The proceeds of the sustainable bond issuance will be used by HNB PLC to fund the development and installation of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower projects, improve energy efficiency through retrofits, fund the construction of recognized ‘green’ buildings, fund investment infrastructure for water treatment, water conservation and efficient agricultural water technologies, finance housing development, healthcare and education for low- and middle-income families, promote women entrepreneurship, amongst others initiatives.
Damith Pallewatte, Managing Director and CEO of HNB PLC, who was the ceremony’s keynote speaker remarked upon the issuance of sustainable bonds commenting: “HNB’s LKR 10 bn sustainable bond issuance is a landmark step in advancing Sri Lanka’s sustainability agenda.”
Delivering his welcome address at the event, Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO of CSE, remarked upon rising corporate engagement in CSE’s GSS+ debt instruments stating: “HNB’s Sustainable Bond represents a welcome new addition to the list of leading Sri Lankan financial instruments that have set the example for the success of CSE’s GSS+ Bond framework which have allowed the capital market to operate as a financing vehicle for sustainable and socially equitable projects.”
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