THE PUNJAB Financial Corporation has obtained the ISO 9001:2000 standard certification. The corporation received the certificate last month from Det Norske Veritas (DNV) As, Ludhiana an accredited unit of DNV Certification BV, The Netherlands. The certification has been provided for sanctions, disbursement and recovery of loans to small and medium scale industrial enterprises. The certification will help the corporation to gain an edge in the financial market as a financial service provider. But people in Punjab are averse to investing in financial markets as compared to the national investor scenario inspite of a buoyant national financial market. Dr G Vajralingam, managing director of the corporation said the process of certification has been completed in record time and may help turn the situation towards the positive. “The certification has been obtained to secure a reasonable place in the financial market. The quality of services required for the present day customer oriented market will be ensured by the corporation for providing various kinds of services as per the certification. We shall be conforming to the requirements of surveillance audit as well.” The onus now is on the corporation for continuing the work as functioning standards prescribed by the certification agency. The National Productivity Council was the consultant firm to the corporation for achieving the certification. However, this isn’t the first case of a Punjab government department being awarded an ISO certification. Punjab Infotech (PICT) has also achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification for sustainable development of knowledge intensive high-tech industry clusters for overall economic development of the state