CAD participates at the Global Business Partner Meeting of the IFC SME Toolkit in Sri Lanka with the aim of strengthening SMEs through mobile and social media. CAD Productions produces audiovisual clips promoting their work with entrepreneurs in post-conflict economies.

On May 2011, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, organized the Global Business Partner Meeting in Sri Lanka to explore the use of new media to promote better business practices through the SME Toolkit, an online resource that provides training and management tools that help small and medium enterprises strengthen their productivity and increase their access to new markets.

The conference was co-hosted with Dialog Axiata PLC, the biggest mobile technologies company in Sri Lanka, and focused on reaching and strengthening entrepreneurs through mobile and social media and creating better communication networks among partners. Some of the business partners that participated at the event were IBM, Banco Santander, Air Tel, Riyad Bank, ICICI Bank or the Universidad Tecnológica de Monterrey, among others. During the conference, participants shared experiences, lessons learned, and discussed ideas for future program development and training.

One of the key messages emphasized during the event was that innovative use of mobile and other new platforms can help enhance the capacity to reach more small and medium enterprises and promote more and better innovative models to support local entrepreneurs and help their businesses become sustainable.

CAD is working jointly with IFC and IBM to promote the IFC SME Toolkit so it becomes an innovative and open-source platform and entrepreneurs around the world have the information and support they need to become more sustainable and productive within their local economy. The toolkit is currently available in 18 languages in 32 countries, has more than 6 million visits in their website and continues to grow and expand.

In addition, CAD Productions was engaged in the process of filming a series of audiovisual pieces that portray social entrepreneurs overcoming their daily challenges and struggling for a better future. IFC and CAD Productions will soon present a series of videos on how the SME Toolkit is transforming the daily lives of entrepreneurs around the world by providing them with more and better opportunities.

Visit the SME Toolkit website www.smetoolkit.org
Visit the Dialog Axiata PLC website www.dialog.lk