Gami Pubuduwa stands out

DGM - Personal Banking and Network Management, Chandula Abeywickrama said, “With 70% of our population living in rural areas, and a majority of them having next to no relationship with a banking institution, most commercial banks still choose to focus on extending bank assistance to the Western Province.

The small micro-finance institutions that cater to this 70% are very few and with limited capacities of providing capital.

HNB moved away from the thinking that the sole focus should fall only on the 20% of customers living in urban areas, of where 80% of the profits come from.

We believe that it’s also of great importance to uplift the conditions of 80% living in rural areas, which gives only 20% of profit to the bank.

When categorised into three levels, there are the Entrepreneurial Poor, the Labouring poor and the Poorest of the poor, of which the latter two are heavily dependent on government and non government support.

Gami Pubuduwa focuses mainly on the segment known as the Entrepreneurial Poor, people who have ideas, talent and creativity but need to be supported with capital to realise their goals.

Sri Lanka with vast potential, especially in the field of agriculture has good fertile land.

Since we don’t however, have agricultural land encompassing thousands of acres, it is always possible for us to do a lot of small things, in a big way.

We could for example, support small-scale agricultural produce such as vegetables and fruits. There is also the Fisheries Industry, Confectionery industry, Service Industry covering Personal Health, Beauty care and Garment Manufacturing.

The areas that need financial assistance are many but few are willing to give them. That’s how Gami Pubuduwa stand out from the rest.

Micro-financing has now been brought on to a broader and greater platform; not only it is a CSR initiative but it’s also a core banking activity that contributes to the Bank’s profitability.

Our biggest challenge is to sustain this program and take it forward.

Over the past 17 years we have provided solutions to 70,000 micro-finance entrepreneurs and employment opportunities for approximately 350,000 people and economically strengthened about half a million families.

In the next couple of years we hope to reach out to about 50,000 more people, and through them create more job opportunities and enrich the lives of many others.”