HNB celebrates 25th anniversary of world renowned Gami Pubuduwa in grand style

Hatton National Bank celebrated the 25th anniversary of its flagship microfinance scheme Gami Pubuduwa recently with a grand event which included the launch of a state-of-the art e-learning solution and an awards ceremony for its Field Force at the Field Officers' Conference 2014.

The e-learning solution is expected to greatly benefit youth in rural areas by providing access to enhance their entrepreneurial skills and improve knowledge to become a successful entrepreneur. The awards ceremony was held to recognise the best performing Field Officers over the past 3 years and 27 Field Officers were awarded at this ceremony.

Held at the Hotel Kingsbury Colombo the event was attended by nearly 200 guests and included the Chief Guest HNB MD / CEO Mr. Jonathan Alles, former Director HNB Mrs Pamela Cooray, Corporate Management of HNB and around 150 Field Officers. This was the culmination of a series of events organised throughout 2014 in order to celebrate the landmark 25th anniversary and to highlight the bank's presence and the contribution to the rural and micro finance sectors in Sri Lanka.

The world renowned Gami Pubuduwa Scheme (Village Awakening Scheme) was initiated in 1989 as the first ever micro finance programme launched by a Bank. Over the past two decades, the programme has penetrated deep in to Sri Lanka's rural areas, providing access to a whole host of Banking products and services including micro-savings, micro-lending, money transfer services and m.icro-insurance.

The intent of the Gami Pubuduwa Scheme is to extend credit facilities, along with a package of banking facilities, to the rural community. The scheme constitutes rural savings mobilisation and social development alongside extension of credit. The scheme assists any income generating self-employment activity up to Rs. 5 million, with a maximum repayment period of 4 years. There are 108 Gami Pubuduwa banking units operating throughout the country, with most in rural areas.