First-ever ‘The Ray’ Award for invention to be powered by Commercial Bank

Friday, 12 October 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Invention has received a revitalising shot in the arm with the Commercial Bank of Ceylon coming forward to partner the inaugural ‘The Ray’ Award presented by the Ray Wijewardene Charitable Trust to help a recognised Sri Lankan inventor to commercialise his or her invention.

As principal sponsor of this prestigious lifetime award, which is to be presented biennially, the bank has undertaken to extend a credit line of Rs. 1 million to enable the winner prepare the award-winning invention for commercialisation.

Presented in memory of Sri Lanka’s legendary inventor Ray Wijewardene (1924 – 2010), ‘The Ray’ Award is open to all Presidential Award winners of the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission. Vidya-Jothi Deshamanya Philip Revatha (Ray) Wijewardene gave the world the two-wheeled hand tractor in 1955. Educated at Cambridge and Harvard, he is also referred to as the ‘Father of Dendro Power’ and as the architect of Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT).

“Commercial Bank has a proud record of supporting many endeavours of enterprising Sri Lankans, and it is our hope that ‘The Ray’ Award will bring about even greater engagement between the bank and our inventor community,” said Ravi Dias, the Bank’s Managing Director and CEO.

“The Bank has played a catalytic role in individual, corporate and national aspirations, and has been an integral part of our country’s growth and development for more than four decades. We fully appreciate the value of invention and its potential to change lives.”

The presentation of the first ‘The Ray’ Award to a Presidential Award winning inventor chosen by a panel of eminent independent judges takes place at a gala awards ceremony on 17 October. The award is intended to encourage ongoing innovation and enterprise in areas of public interest and continue Wijewardene’s vision of innovation amongst Sri Lankans, especially the youth.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is the only Sri Lankan bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s top 1,000 banks. The bank operates a network of 224 service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 536 ATMs, the single largest ATM network operated by a bank in the island.

It also operates 17 service points in Bangladesh and is the fourth largest foreign bank in that country. The Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 14 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ magazine, and has won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.