IFC-SEDF facility to promote SME development for Lanka and Maldives

ASSISTANCE: The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, launched the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) for Sri Lanka and Maldives, a multidonor technical assistance programme for small and medium enterprise development.

The overall aim of IFC-SEDF is to improve the business environment for SME's, contributing to broad-based economic growth and to sustainable poverty reduction.

The new programme will operate under the umbrella of the existing SEDF programme and IFC South Asia, which has its regional hub in New Delhi.

IFC's Director for South Asia, Iyad Malas, said the strategic approach that the IFC-SEDF facility will adopt in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

"The programme will serve as a catalyst for accelerating the growth rate of the SME sector in these countries.

Our strategy will have three important components: its activities and interventions will aim at enhancing access to finance, help improve performance and competitiveness of the sector, and facilitate the establishment of enabling conditions for SME development.

We will work in partnership with the governments, the private sector, donor partners, the World Bank Group, and other development partners to identify and address the constraints to SME development.

The facility will also complement the development of an effective business support infrastructure already started by the governments and other bilateral and multilateral agencies," he said.