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| Thursday, 23 October 2003 |
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Following the successful completion of its first three years, the Sri Lankan-German enterprise Service Systems Promotion (ESSP) Project Kandy launched into a second phase this week with a new name and a fresh mandate to promote economic development in the entire central region, states a German Technical Cooperation press release. Minister of Central Region Development Tissa Attanayake officially launched the Sri Lankan-German Economic Strategy Support Programme (ESSP) Central Region at a ceremony in Kandy on Monday, October 20 with an assurance that the new ESSP would provide a major boost to the region's blossoming economic activity. Minister Attanayake said: "In the national Regaining Sri Lanka strategy the Government targets an ambitious 10 percent annual growth. The Central Region is ready to substantially contribute to this economic development by utilizing its vast natural and human resources in a joint effort of both the public and the private sectors. The ESSP can play a major role in strategy development and supporting regional initiatives:. "The Central Region has a lot to offer in terms of attractive, competitive and comparative advantages", said P. G. Samaratunga, ESSP Project Director. "The economic framework conditions have been greatly improved due to the ongoing ceasefire. With phase two of ESSP, we look forward to initiating a process of economic strategy development for this region", added Dr. Volker Steigerwald, programme coordinator of ESSP. A joint initiative of the Ministry of Central Region Development and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, ESSP launched its activities in 2000, providing support to micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the Kandy district to become competitive in national and global markets. The German contribution is provided through the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The ESSP worked with numerous enterprise associations like the Protected Agriculture Entrepreneurs Association or the Handloom weavers Collective Society in strengthening their organization and giving excellent services to their members. The Central Province Chamber of Commerce and Industries benefited from the ESSP support in various ways: through training and human resource development, consultancies and partnership projects. The ESSP helped to establish linkages between small and bigger enterprises in the cut foliage and ornamental fish sectors. A large number of events were organized by ESSP together with its partners to establish a dynamic business sector in the Kandy area such as Entrepreneur of the Year awards, trade fairs and exhibitions, Kandyan products 2002, Entrepreneurs' Day 2003. The ESSP worked closely with a multitude of partners: the provincial council and the provincial Ministries, the University of Peradeniya and its Agribusines Centre and Engineering design Centre, the Women's Chamber, public and private business development service providers, other development projects. One year ago, a joint Sri Lankan-German project progress review was conducted which came to a very positive assessment of ESSP's work. Following the review, it was decided to extend the ESSP into a second phase up to mid 2007 with an enlarged mandate to shift from supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in the Kandy District to promoting the economic development of the entire Central Region. "The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, following the latest round of discussions with Sri Lankan authorities, decided to extend by another four years its support for economic development activities in the Central Region", said Dr. Roland Steurer, Country Director of GTZ. Adding that the approach was perfectly in line with the "Regaining Sri Lanka" strategy of the Government of Sri Lanka, Dr. Steurer pointed out that the new ESSP would be a major component in the focal area of Promotion of the Dynamic Market Economy and Qualified Employment, as espoused by the principles of Sri Lankan-German development cooperation. The German government has committed a total of Euro 9.8m (LKR 980m) for activities in this focal area which would also include the interventions undertaken by ESSP in the Central Region, Dr. Steurer said. According to E. H. M. P. Elkaduwa, Secretary to the Ministry of Central Region Development, the new ESSP is very much in line with the mandate of his ministry. "We expect a lot of support from ESSP in terms of initiating a process of economic strategy development in close partnership with all stakeholders in the public and private sectors, we will jointly promote economic growth and employment generation in the Central Region", he added. |
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