HDFC clinches sustainability accolade for 2nd consecutive year

At the recently concluded ACCA Sustainability Reporting Award 2011, HDFC Bank was recognised as the winner among the small- scale enterprises in Sri Lanka for the second consecutive year. An internationally recognised award, the ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards places the winners as amongst the most transparent corporate bodies in the country. The Award is one of the most recognized corporate recognition schemes in the world, especially in the growing field of sustainability reporting and disclosure. The awards are held annually in thirty countries around the world, under the theme of "rewarding transparency".

The HDFC Bank of Sri Lanka operates under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, and is the first organization that has brought recognition in the area of sustainability disclosure to the state sector. Mrs. Siromi Wickramasinghe, Chairman of HDFC Bank reiterates the Bank's commitment towards sustainable development of the nation and points out that the Bank is cognizant of the rewards of sustainable business. She notes, "sustainability creates long-term shareholder value, improves performance by removing waste and manages risk. It considers the interrelationship of economic, environmental and social issues. At HDFC Bank, we have reached an asset base valued at Rs. 20 Billion and a portfo- lio of housing loans valued at Rs. 15 Billion. We foresee strong future growth prospects and in our journey towards this, we remain committed to doing business in a sustainable manner. This achievement, we feel, is an another corporate milestone in our journey to excel". .

"Our reporting approach, attempts to offer an integrated view of the company's performance from financial, economic, social and environmental facets, where we demonstrate how we interact and conduct a dialogue with our stakeholders. We actively engage with our stakeholders and the Bank interacts with their interests and makes them a part of the HDFC'S journey", notes Mr. D. V. Pathirana, Assistant General Manager (Finance & Planning) of HDFC Bank.

Mr. Pathirana further adds, "HDFC is mindful that since our core business is in facilitating human settlement that we indirectly have a significant impact on the eco system and climate change. Over the years we have transformed our focus from housing finance to home finance. We believe that for a house to become a home, it needs to be affordable not only to the personal cash flow of the household but also resource efficient to the environment, economy and the society at large. We also believe that sustainable planning and construction is a necessity to create a decent indoor and outdoor environment harnessing the well being of society and we have been great proponents of this. From an operational perspective we are committed to managing our carbon emission and have been working towards minimizing our footprint. These are the core sustainability thrusts at HDFC".