Harvard Business Asia Conference concludes

Chairman of the Banking With The Poor (BWTP) Network and the Deputy General Manager (Personal Banking and Network Management) of Hatton National Bank Chandula Abeywickrema was invited by the Harvard Business School for the Harvard Business Asia conference held recently at Harvard Business School in Boston.

This year’s conference covered a wide spectrum of key business initiatives under the theme of “Asia in a whole new world”.

This was the first time a session on Micro Finance was included for the Harvard Asia Conference. Since Micro Finance is gaining global recognition as a key initiative to alleviate poverty, he was able to enlighten the audience of the global business opportunities in Micro Finance.

He also emphasised the four decades of hard work done by many stakeholders of the industry, who have brought the industry to maturity.

His presentation covered very significant partnerships that can be evolved between the Banks, Micro Finance in institutions and the technology providers to deliver Micro Finance services at a lesser cost to more people in more places.

As the Chairman of the Banking With The Poor Network, he was very passionate on presenting many thoughts and ideas, which were a great inspiration to the students, academic staff and all the delegates who attended the Harvard Business Asia Conference.

He also enlightened the audience the role the Commercial Banks could play in the future in downscaling in partnerships with technology providers such as Mobile Phone Operators to bring banking services to the people at the bottom of the pyramid, thereby not only alleviating poverty but bringing economic independence and enrichment to the marginalised people in the developing nations.

He concluded the presentation saying Micro Finance Institutions need people with passion, commitment and patience to derive the best through these initiatives as a long-term investment.