Financial Times

Supporting victims of tsunami and 20-year old war
Major drive by FCCISL to create new entrepreneurs across Sri Lanka
In probably the biggest private sector driven economic support scheme, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) is reaching out to more than 10,000 people including many women in a livelihoods-improvement programme.

Separately, the apex chamber wants to set up new chambers in Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu this year in a bid to encourage more entrepreneurship activity across the north, according to FCCISL President Nawaz Rajabdeen.
“We are expanding our chamber support scheme with already over 40 chambers across the country supported by us. We want to add northern chambers to this programme,” he said. The Vavuniya chamber is doing the spadework and FCCISL officials including Rajabdeen plan to visit Mullaitivu next month for further discussions with businessmen in those areas. The LTTE has assured support in these proposed new chambers.

“We are using a business-to-business approach as a road to peace strategy,” he said. Under a Rs 750 million, fully donor-funded programme, the FCCISL launched a ‘Back-to-Business’ programme a few months ago aimed at rehabilitating the tsunami affected micro, small and medium enterprises and livelihoods. The programme is not however confined to the tsunami-affected. It also brings in victims of the decades-long northeast conflict, particularly women who lost their husbands in the war.

The three-year programme is set to provide a minimum 50,000 employment opportunities across the island. FCCISL Secretary-General Samantha Abeywickrema said while the government concentrated on infrastructure recovery in the post-tsunami process, little support was given to the equally important aspect of livelihood support. “That’s where we come in,” he added.
The programme has 10 different components which include trauma counselling and business counselling for those who have been thrust into business as a result of losing a mother or father.

The other aspects have procurement of tools and machinery and providing know-how for recipients to get advanced tools for their work; credit and finance components; grants; marketing linkages and post tsunami advocacy support.

Help desks have been set up in all chambers across the country with a coordination desk in Colombo manned by experienced officers.
In addition to grants, micro and mid-level businesses are also being offered low interest loans from the new SME Bank with just a family member of the recipient as a guarantor and no collateral.

Rajabdeen said the apex chamber was also setting up business schools with two set up in the past month in Vavuniya and Anuradhapura. Last week a FCCISL delegation led by Rajabdeen and including help desk coordinators visited the Indian State of Gujarat to learn about its successful post earthquake enterprise rehabilitation and livelihoods restoration programme.

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