Archives

by Charlie Herat

The Industrial Services Bureau (ISB) Kurunegala was selected by the North Central Province (NCP) Rural Development Project (Asian Development Bank Assisted Project) as one of its service providers to conduct Enterprise Development programs.

The project will be implemented in 12 Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DS) in Anuradhapura and the Polonnaruwa Districts.

The main objective of the project is to promote new business and expand existing business while increasing income creating employment opportunities and to reduce income disparities among the beneficiaries of the project.

The beneficiaries of the project are small and marginal farmers, landless labourers, small and medium entrepreneurs in private sector and women and unemployed youth. The approach of the project would be assisting beneficiaries through organised clusters.

ISB has been selected to conduct the program in Polonnaruwa district covering eight DS divisions.

The project will run for two years and the tasks of ISB are as follows;

Finalizing the clusters; Canvassing the project component among the potential entrepreneurs; Identification of suitable enterprises/entrepreneurs; Provision of entrepreneurship and technical training to selected persons; Preparation of Bankable Projects/Business Plans; Establishing viability of business plans with the Participating Credit Institution (PCIs); Assist financing projects through PCIs ; Provision of follow-up services and/or providing access to follow-up; Monitoring of the program; Evaluation and impact evaluation.

ISB commence work at the end of this month with a branch office in Polonnaruwa to perform the task.

Already eight graduates have been recruited by ISB to coordinate the activities and they will be assigned to each DS division.

The expected outcome at the end of the project will be;

Improving the entrepreneurial capabilities and create entrepreneurial culture within the given project boundaries and among project beneficiaries.

Promoting new enterprises and expanding exciting enterprises for increased employment and income generation.

With the launching of this project, ISB enters into the next phase of its evolution by setting up branches in the growth centres of the island.

The vision of ISB for the next five years is to setup a branch of network in major growth centres through out the country.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager