BANKING

ComBank's CSR assists youth in Udawela

Underprivileged children living in a rural village in Sri Lanka can now attend school with new hope while the youth of the village gain valuable IT knowledge thanks to a new Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon.

The CSR Trust of the country's benchmark private sector bank has completed a village development project in Udawela in the Kurunagala district under which the Udawela Kumara Primary school was upgraded and two IT laboratories were built.

The project initiated by the Development Credit Department of Commercial Bank was conducted under Village Development Programme of the Banks CSR Trust.

"The objective of this scheme is to identify villages that have less opportunities for development and to assist the people by improving basic amenities thereby improve the economy in the area," Nimal Luxshman, the Bank's Deputy General Manager - Personal Banking said. "The Bank plays a key role at the initial stage as a facilitator and gradually encourages the people in the village to give the leadership under the supervision of the Bank's officials."

The Udawela Kumara Primary School, which has classes up to grade nine is the only school located within the village. Eighty-One students study in this school and a large number of village children do not attend school due to financial constraints.

The school project included colour washing of the existing school buildings, repairing and painting desks and chairs, construction of two additional toilets, providing sports goods and shoes for the students and setting up a fully equipped IT lab with three computers and other accessories. The Bank has also organised a mobile Dental clinic to be conducted for the students.

A second IT laboratory with five computers was set up at the 'Sri Sudharmaramaya, the village temple to serve school leavers. Some of the activities were carried out with the participation of the parents, teachers and students in a Shramadana.

"The Bank will expand this project with continuous monitoring and will help this village to uplift its living standards. Other such villages will also be identified and assisted in a similar manner," said Luxshman.

Commercial Bank's Village Development Project focused on three key areas; to financially facilitate small scale entrepreneurs who are already engaged in a particular industry to expand their business activities, to financially assist the improvement of infrastructure facilities of the village and to uplift the social wellbeing of all segments of the village community.

The CSR Trust of the Commercial Bank empowers communities and individuals to help them become self-reliant and independent, to motivate people, to encourage individuals to think out of box and to capture and preserve heritage and folk wisdom.

Chandula to speak at Harvard Asia Business Confab in Boston

Chairman of the Banking With The Poor (BWTP) Network and the Deputy General Manager (Personal Banking & Network Management) of Hatton National Bank, Chandula Abeywickrema, has been invited to speak at the Harvard Asia Business Conference, the largest Asia-focused business conference in North America by the Harvard Business School and Alliance for Financial Inclusion.

This year's conference will be convened on February 14 and 15 at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Asia Business Conference is an annual gathering jointly organized by the Harvard Business School, the Harvard Law School, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

The conference aims to foster meaningful discussion on policies and trends that dominate the business and legal institutions of modern Asia. To this end, the conference organizes a series of keynote speeches, plenary sessions, topical panels, and social events featuring distinguished leaders from industry, government, and academia who have intimate experience in Asia.

Abeywickrema who is the Chairman of the Banking With The Poor (BWTP) Network, the largest Asia based Microfinance Network with a membership of over 50 leading financial institutions in 15 countries in Asia, has been recognized for his contribution to Microfinance in Asia, as its Chairman.

He has been invited to the most prestigious Microfinance Forums and has very passionately advocated the alleviation of poverty and economic revival of the people at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

This year he was invited to speak at the Asia Pacific Regional Micro Credit Summit in Bali, Indonesia, and at the Asian Banker's Association in Kuala Lumpur, SEEP conference in Washington D.C, Citi and Financial Educational Summit in Beijing.

He also gave leadership in organizing one of the most successful Microfinance Conferences of the year.

The topics Chandula covered at the Conference included the "Role of the Commercial Bank's in Microfinance, the Future of Microfinance in Asia" and "Technology and Microfinance".

This is noteworthy in view that it is the first time a Sri Lankan has been honoured to address at the Harvard Asia Business Conference.

Sampath Bank encourages students to save

Sampath Bank takes pride in helping the future leaders getting ready themselves for the new school year.

Offering a brace of Minor Savings Accounts to cater to the different needs of the parents and children including Sampath Pubudu - offering bonus interest and special gifts to encourage children to save and Sampath Sapiri - the high interest Children's Savings Account, Sampath Bank is already very much involved in developing the habit of saving amongst the children of Sri Lanka.

To support the savings habit Sampath Bank offers fabulous gifts of school books, gift vouchers for school shoes and other school supplies through the Sampath Pubudu and Sampath Sapiri accounts.

The gifts are valued over 50% of the deposit amount, so that the more you save - the more you receive with this fabulous offer from Sampath Bank, said a Samapth Bank official.