Government to set up National Enterprise Development Authority
 

by Irangika Range

The National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) will be set up by the Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development Ministry investing Rs.100 million this month.

It will stimulate the growth and development of Sri Lanka's economy by encouraging and promoting and facilitating enterprise development of local industries in Sri Lanka said Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

He announced that the Government is formulating policies and promotional incentives which have been designed to support and promote local tailors.

The Ministry has identified the importance of developing local tailors and the necessity of elevating their economic and social standard to a professional level to meet the challenges offered by worldwide sartorial, improvement innovations and inventions.

In the first instance all the tailors should be brought under one professional promotional programme. Their professional opportunities and stability should be widened and ensured. With this objective, the Ministry has planned to grant loan facilities to tailors starting at Rs.3,00,000 with an interest of 7 percent through the SME bank.

'This will be a good opportunity for SME tailors to broaden the technical skills and to acquire financial assistance to get men and material necessary to expand and improve their business.

He said a tailor's service is essential to people with the tailor himself assuming national and civil status of importance. This is the fastest growing sector and it has a big demand for providing uniforms for police, nurses, school students, airline and shipping crew, security and offices the Minister said.

The Ministry will provide duty concessions for importing of garment accessories to develop the industry. We have also planned to organise the exhibition to educate the tailors to introduce necessary accessories with the assistance of the Association of Master Tailors in Sri Lanka'.

The Ministry has invested Rs.20 billion to identify and encourage targeted SME entrepreneurs in the country to promote and assist in the development this year. In order to develop SMEs in the country, the Ministry will set up the SME Venture Capital Ltd, to generate venture capital requirements.