The Ceylon
Chamber of Commerce Chamber Academy together with the International Labor
Organization (ILO), arranged an information sharing session on the LEED+
initiative and its private sector and local producers' incentives. The project
contributes to poverty reduction, sustainable job creation and peacebuilding
through an improved environment with enhanced governance, efficient
community-based services, and public-private partnership that empowers
economically vulnerable groups in conflict-affected populations in the northern
province of Sri Lanka.
LEED+ has
introduced an approach to the growth of value chain/market systems as one of
its main strategies for creating lasting impact and achieving greater outreach.
Six value chains have established in the agricultural and fishery sectors that
show high potential for creating decent jobs for the target population in
northern Sri Lanka.
The project
promotes partnerships with selected domestic companies to facilitate investment
and procure from producers in post-conflict areas of primary/processed
products. The business models are designed with care to ensure the control of
the models and benefits for both the private and local producers. Through this
model, companies engage directly with cooperative societies and individual
farmers and fishers, with the help of ILO.
The
collaborations address supply shortages and lack of market access and technical
expertise. ILO facilitates connexions between companies and cooperative
societies, suppliers, farmers as well as relevant government departments, etc.
through partnerships. The agreements also include mutual investments, thereby
allowing the participating companies to lower the risk involved.
ILO Country
Office for Sri Lanka and Maldives Chief Technical Advisor Dr Thomas Kring PhD
from the Jobs for Peace and Resilience Program together with ILO Marketing and
Value Chain Expert Khairul Islam from the Local Empowerment for Economic
Development and Reconciliation Project (LEED+) will lead the seminar.
OSL Take: The
government of Sri Lanka is engaged in introducing many policies aimed at
strengthening and consolidating the country’s economy while attracting foreign
investments by continuously improving the ease of doing business environment in
the island nation. Looking at the comments made by Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister
and Senior Adviser to the Finance Ministry, it is evident that Sri Lanka is
heading on a path to achieve overall economic growth.
The conducive
business atmosphere in the country will attract foreign businesses/investors to
explore opportunities in Sri Lanka. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning
in the Indian Ocean, the ease of doing business environment in the country and
the many trade agreements, as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the state,
have made it an attractive business destination in the South Asian region.
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