Dubai: Hatton National Bank (HNB), a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, has launched the HNB World in Dubai, an initiative that seeks to tap into the business potential of the Sri Lankan diaspora, which has recently been invigorated following the end of the civil war in the country.
HNB said that it is offering "tailor-made financial solutions and rewards for savings" to Sri Lankan expatriates in the UAE.
The annual remittances of Sri Lankan expats worldwide are an estimated Dh102.7 million, and the UAE accounts for close to 20 per cent of that amount — Dh20.55 million.
"This is a relaunch of a significant service after 30 years of civil war in Sri Lanka. HNB's main focus is the Sri Lankan diaspora in addition to serving the South Asian migrant workers," Chandula Abeywickrema, Deputy General Manager of Marketing and Retail Banking, told Gulf News in an interview.
Besides remittance services, the HNB World facility provides Sri Lankan expatriates in the UAE an access point to financial services and products and allows them to become participants of Sri Lanka's economic development, HNB said.
"In our region, since commercial banks now focus on entrepreneurial poor, pawn brokering, low-income housing finance, leasing of automobile vehicles, credit cards and consumer loans are the products that are going to play a major role in the years to come," Abeywickrema said.
