SANASA founder Dr Kiriwandeniya celebrates 81st birthday

Founder of the SANASA Movement in Sri Lanka, Dr. P. A. Kiriwandeniya celebrated his 81st birthday recently (Nov 14). He held several key positions as the Chairman, Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU), Vice-Chair of Asia and Oceania Association (AOA) of International Cooperative & Mutual Insurance Federation, Chairman of the People’s Bank, Director Regional Development Bank, and President National Institute of Cooperative Management and National Cooperative Council, of Sri Lanka. Currently, he holds director positions of several SANASA institutions.

A press release said: With the open economy introduced by the then Government, 1978 was a breakthrough year for Dr. Kiriwandeniya who founded the SANASA Movement by collaborating with 935 small cooperative societies in the rural sector. Over the years, the movement continued to grow creating the SANASA Development Bank, Federation of Thrift & Credit Cooperative Societies, SANASA Campus, SANASA Insurance, SANASA Engineering and Development Company (SEDCO), SANASA Consumer Producer Alliance (SANEEPA) and several other institutions. His most recent campaign was launched with the concept of “Lets Reduce Cost – Increase Income” with the aim of developing 5,000 villages by introducing sustainable consumption mechanisms. To celebrate his birthday, the Chairman and the Board of Directors, CEO, the Management, and the members of staff of the SANASA Life Insurance Company PLC organized a series of activities.