De La Rue Lanka is celebrating their successful accreditation by external auditors to the Central Bank standard of ISO 14298. This is a fantastic achievement for the site and follows the completion of a series of security upgrades at the plant to enable it to qualify for the accreditation.
The ISO14298 accreditation standard is aimed at organisations carrying out the printing and production of secure documents such as banknotes, passports, credit cards and other secure documents. The accreditation is awarded at three different levels, the highest being the Central Bank level and this top level is the standard achieved by the De La Rue Lanka operation. The scope of the accreditation allows the site to meet the security needs of both the product – from raw materials to processes – and the customer, giving confidence that the agreed level of security is achieved.
De La Rue Lanka, based in Biyagama and employing over 300 people, is a flagship joint venture between De La Rue and the Government of Sri Lanka. This highly successful partnership has been in operation producing Sri Lankan banknotes since 1986 and President Sirisena visited in May 2016 to help celebrate the 30th anniversary. One of the stated aims of the Government is to establish successful joint ventures between foreign companies and the Government of Sri Lanka to help attract foreign investment into the economy to assist growth and development.
Mr Andrew Hydes, Head of Site commented on the award “Continuous improvement in all aspects of production is always at the forefront of development activity at De La Rue Lanka and being awarded ISO 14298 demonstrates the progress towards a world class production site. Award of this accreditation makes De La Rue Lanka one of fewer than 25 locations globally to be recognised as meeting the Central Bank standard and only the third to be accredited outside Europe. The accreditation reflects the professionalism and strong understanding for the need to prioritise security within our business.“