Deshodaya Development Finance Company Ltd (DDFC), a subsidiary of the Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Service (SEEDS) has been re-launched as Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited.
The launch press conference was held at the Galadari Hotel.
It was attended by the founder of the Sarvodaya Movement Dr. A T Ariyaratne, Director of Sarvodaya Finance and General Secretary of the Sarvodaya Movement Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, Chairman of the Board Eastman Narangoda, Chief Executive Officer Ravindra Ranjith, members of the board, senior management, members of the media and well wishers.
Commenting on the re-launch Chairman Eastman Narangoda stated, “I am privileged and honoured to be a part of this historic occasion when Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited unveils its new identity. Sarvodaya over the years has won the confidence of people in Sri Lanka at all economic and social levels. I am indeed proud to lead a company with such a reputation and illustrious history spanning 60 years.”
Under Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited, micro credit will remain the core business. Serving predominantly rural communities out of 60 outlets island wide, the company will look at financial support specifically in the areas of empowering women and employment generation. With a customer base of 125,000 of which 55 percent are women the company will also look at introducing new and innovative products to their portfolio. Following Sarvodaya principles, the company will follow all ethical practices in selecting projects for funding. Accordingly, projects or businesses that involve gambling, manufacture or sale of liquor or harmful drugs, weapons, slaughter of animals and projects that are harmful to the environment will not be given any consideration.
Speaking on the future plans of Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited the Chairman further noted, “As a strategy to improve our business we will also look at the lower end of the Small and Medium (SME) sector. Through this objective we will move into leasing for SME and Micro customers and develop loan products as well. As a long term plan we will work tirelessly to transform our Company into a Development Bank. Our aim is to uplift families and communities, and help eradicate poverty in the country to some extent. With this launch we hope to broaden our scope of products and services, thereby being able to extend the services to serve greater target groups like the youth and small entrepreneurs in addition to the micro sector.”
The Vision of Sarvodaya Finance Development Limited is “To be a catalyst in creating an economically progressive society, living in dignity”. In order to ensure the fulfillment of this vision, Sarvodaya Development Finance is headed by a highly qualified and experienced Board of Directors.
The Chairman of the Board is Eastman Narangoda while the Deputy Chairman is Channa De Silva. The board also comprises Dr.Vinya Ariyaratne, Dr.Richard Vokes, Dr.Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Shakila Wijewardena, Shevon Gunaratne, K L Gunawardana and Masayoshi Yamashita.
