Mmbl-pathfinder commemorates NU’S 111th birth anniversary

Mmbl-pathfinder commemorated the 111th birth anniversary of the late Deshamanya N.U. Jayawardena on its Founder’s Day, 25th February.

To mark the occasion, his daughter Neiliyaperera, sonin-law Dharmin Perera, and granddaughter Menaka Balendra, along with Mmbl-pathfinder Group CEO K. Balasunderam, and staff representatives, laid floral tributes at the statue of the late Jayawardena opposite his Cambridge Place residence in Colombo. Later at Mmbl-pathfinder headquarters at Riverpoint, Peliyagoda, his son Nimal Jayawardena garlanded a bust of his father.

Deshamanya N.U. Jayawardena (1908-2002), was a former senator, economist, banker, i ndustrialist, financier, and philanthropist. Spending the first part of his career in government he rose from his initial appointment as a junior clerk in 1931 to hold several senior appointments, eventually becoming appointed as the first Sri Lankan Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 1950 and later Senator in 1957. The second phase of his career as a pioneer entrepreneur in the private sector in Post-independence Sri Lanka began in 1956 when he became the first Sri Lankan to head a British-owned company, Vavasseur & Company. He later went on to establish a large business conglomerate, which included financing, leasing, textile manufacture, tea-broking, stock-broking, shipping, logistics, tourism and travel arms. The public companies he founded included Sampath Bank, National Enterprise Bank (now DFCC Vardhana Bank), Union Assurance, Mercantile Shipping, Mercantile Leasing and Mercantile Credit. He led to open up the financial services and commodity-broking sectors which had long been closed except to a few companies. He was a founding member of the Colombo Securities Exchange, serving as its second Chairman from 1988 to 1989.

During these years, NU served on an extraordinary number of government and private-sector committees and boards, contributing to the formulation of legislation and policy in a large number of areas, including banking, finance, capital markets, tourism, housing and insurance. He was a prolific writer, commenting on economic and political issues. He was known for his championship of openmarket policies and the promotion of the private sector. In recognition of his outstanding services to the country, NU was conferred the title of “Deshamanya” in 1991. He continued to be active, working in his office almost up to the last days of his life. He died, aged 94, on 24 April, 2002.