ComBank bags four awards

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon (ComBank) won four awards including the 'Top 10' award at the 2013 Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards presented by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Commercial Bank Managing Director and CEO Ravi Dias (on left) and Coordinator of the Bank’s CSR Trust, Ms. Priyanthi Perera (on right) receive the awards

The Bank participated in the scheme for the first time in 2012 and won an award that year.

The Bank received the award for 'Governance', the award for 'Education' in the awards for Long Term Projects and a merit award for 'Infrastructure' and was also adjudged one of Sri Lanka's 10 Best Corporate Citizens at the event.

The Long Term Projects Award presented to Commercial Bank was for its initiative to present fully-equipped IT labs to schools in all provinces and a program to help schoolchildren with better access to English language education.

The Bank donated 43 IT labs to 37 schools and six other institutions for the year ending March 31, 2013, launched and completed the first of its English language programs with the inaugural batch of 200 students. This is the second time the Bank's education project was awarded Gold at the event.

The Infrastructure Award won by the Bank was based on 11 projects carried out in the year of assessment to provide critical care equipment and other facilities to government hospitals and to refurbish buildings where necessary.

"Our commitment to the community have evolved into a well-defined, comprehensively-structured series of high priority initiatives that are in-sync with national needs and the Bank's own vision and mission," Commercial Bank's Managing Director and CEO Ravi Dias said.

"Achieving tangible and lasting impact is an embedded objective, and in that context, the award for the best long-term project in education is an important source of encouragement to the team," he said.

He said the Bank was also pleased to be acknowledged as one of Sri Lanka's 10 best corporate citizens, an accolade that considers multiple aspects under three areas of sustainability - environmental, social and economic.

All centrally-funded Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives come under the purview of the Commercial Bank CSR Trust, set up in 2004. The Bank contributes a percentage of its post-tax profits annually to the Trust, and defines the overall goal of its CSR policy as 'to generate measurable and sustainable social dividends' for different segments of society, in particular those which require empowerment and enrichment. All computer laboratories donated by Commercial Bank are equipped with brand new computers with licensed software. The schools are also provided accessories such as computer tables, printers and chairs, and the Bank provides assistance to maintain and upgrade these computer labs when necessary to ensure that the facilities benefit many batches of students.