Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning and Amit Dar, Acting Country Director for the World Bank signed the Financing Agreements for the three projects on Monday at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
The three projects undertaken by the World Bank to support are for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development, North East Local Service Improvements, and Sustainable Tourism development, a statement issued by the World Bank said.
"The three projects signed today will help Sri Lanka reap maximum benefits of the peace dividend and make further progress towards becoming a Middle Income Country," Amit Dar has observed.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Facility Project which supports the government's efforts to improve access to finance for SMEs affected by the Global Financial Crisis received US$ 57.4 million in support that is to strengthen access to finance for Sri Lankan Small and Medium Enterprises.
Cecile Niang, Economist, World Bank and Task Team Leader of the project has said that the project aims to incentivize banks to provide credit to SMEs while building their SME lending capability over time.
The project to be implemented through the Ministry of Finance and Planning aims to establish a line of credit to facilitate financing institutions for productive investment to SMEs during the period of 2010 to 2013.
Thousands of SMEs running in the country would benefit from the project enabling them to create more productive activities and generate employment, the government said.
According to the World Bank, the US$50 million North East Local Services Improvement Project is designed to augment resource transfers and building capacity of local authorities so that they are well equipped to deliver much needed local services to the citizens in an accountable manner.
Seenithamby Manoharan, the World Bank Senior Rural Development Specialist and project Task Team Leader said the project will support repairing and rebuilding critical infrastructure as identified and prioritized by the citizens themselves. The infrastructure includes rural roads, culverts and bridges to public buildings, waste disposal, and rural water supply.
The project would cover 65 Pradeshiya Sabhas in the districts of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and 9 Urban Councils in the North and 3 in the East, together with three Municipal Councils including Jaffna, Kalmunai and Batticaloa, the government said, The project to be implemented through the Ministry of Economic Development is expected to be completed in the end of 2013.
The Sustainable Tourism Development Project with the support of US$ 18 million aims to facilitate environmentally and socially sound investments in the tourism sector, focusing particularly on the eastern part of the country.
Additionally, necessary financial and technical assistance will be provided to develop tourism related infrastructure in the Eastern Province. While attracting the private investment in the tourism sector in the Eastern Province, the proposed project would help to increase the number of employment in this area. The project expected to be completed in end of 2014, will be implemented through the Ministry of Economic Development and.
World Bank Private Senior Sector Development Specialist and project Task Team Leader Michael Wong says the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka has an enormous tourism potential.
"This project will help to expand economic opportunities in the East, making the tourism sector more competitive and inclusive while maintaining Sri Lanka's heritage and ecological environment," he added.
The credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary lending arm, have 20 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period.
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