Gains made over
the past two decades in poverty reduction, with a large proportion of the
population close to the poverty line, likely at risk of disaster reporting. Sri
Lanka needs to focus on disaster-prone areas and transition through
weather-related risk management and reduction to a more disaster-resilient
economy.
The mobilisation
of risk reduction and adaptation resources, the development of the right policy
structure and the building of organisational capability often need efforts. ADB
is committed to making Asia and the Pacific prosperous, diverse, resilient and
sustainable while continuing its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
The Sri Lankan Government, the (ADB) and the Sri
Lankan State-owned RDB reportedly signed Loan and Guarantee Agreements in June
this year to further assist Sri Lanka in providing affordable and accessible
credit to SMEs across the country.
According to
local media reports, with only about 30 % of Sri Lankan firms having sufficient
access to bank loans and other resources, limited access to finance is a crucial
obstacle facing Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, and these constraints are even more critical
for women-led micro and small businesses or those in rural areas.
OSL Take: Sri
Lanka’s overall development programme covering the entire country has created
many business/investment opportunities in constructing additional
infrastructure facilities. The development of urban living is one such area.
The aggressive
development programme has resulted in the need to uplift urban living standards
to be on par with international standards. Therefore, foreign
businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri
Lanka’s development programme.
The ADB’s total
commitment to Sri Lanka for this year amounts to US$ 815 million. The promise
mentioned above, in turn, would result in funding for critical projects in the
Sri Lankan government’s development agenda. Therefore, with the funding
availability, foreign companies could explore opportunities take part in Sri
Lanka’s development projects. Also, the ADB support, along with other
international agencies, would result in Sri Lanka’s economy recording an
overall growth. Therefore, foreign businesses could confidently look atinvesting in the Sri Lankan economy.
VBS/AT/02122019/Z_TB2
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