The Bank of Ceylon and Maliban Milk Products (Pvt) Ltd., launched ‘Kiri Upahara’ with the objective of offering highest quality, nutritionally sound foods at realistically affordable prices to consumers.

A ceremony in this connection was held last week under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranasiri Wickramanayake in Colombo.

The Prime Minister said the Bank of Ceylon is the leading state financial institution with more than 450 branches and extended offices across the country. It has a customer base of 7 million plus.

"When Maliban started its exports, multinational companies started to introduce various milk products to the market", he noted.

He pointed out that Sri Lankans have to change their attitude towards food selections without being ready to accept all imported items. The country is self-sufficient in milk and the Government is always ready to help local enterprises to boost production.

Kiri Upahara’ is a joint-venture between Maliban and BOC.

BOC Deputy General Manager (Branches) T. S. Weerasena said the bank will issue to its account holders, on a monthly basis for a period of one year, ‘Kiri-Upahara’ discount coupons for the purchase of Maliban Kiri.

He said the BOC, together with Maliban, would share the pride of launching this landmark program and promotional campaign at national level to encourage and persuade more people to take part and enjoy its benefits.

With Maliban Kiri, the people would enjoy the real Sri Lankan brand of full cream milk, which had achieved the best of all certificates both locally and internationally, Group CEO, Lakshman Weerasooriya said.