IFC - SEDF sign MoU with Rain Forest Ecolodge

SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) and the Rain Forest Ecolodge (Pvt.) Ltd (REC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work jointly to develop the Eco lodge project, a first of its kind in Sri Lanka. The signing took place at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Under the MoU, SEDF will provide REC with technical assistance on SME supply chain linkage, ISO and Green Globe certification as well as marketing services.

Country Manager, IFC Sri Lanka Maldives and Program Manager SEDF Sri Lanka Maldives Gilles Galludec, signed on behalf of SEDF while Chairman of Rain Forest Ecolodge (Pvt.) Ltd Prema Cooray signed on behalf of REC. CEO of REC Hemantha Ratnayake and several other officers of REC and IFC - SEDF were also present. Galludec said that "IFC-SEDF was pleased to partner such a promising project to turn the face of Sri Lankan tourism and to be recognised as a destination for sustainable, differentiated, and high value tourism. It fits in perfectly with the IFC model of developing environmental and social sustainability projects", he said.

REC is a partnership among key stake holders of Sri Lanka's tourism industry.

To position Sri Lanka in the eco-tourism market, REC is being developed as a benchmark eco lodge and biodiversity reserve in a privately managed forest bordering Sinharaja Rainforest.

This best practice model will set standards for eco-tourism development to be replicated by the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. The project will also demonstrate the commercial viability of environmental tourism.