Govt commits Rs 6b to enhance SMEs

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers in the country's manufacturing growth trail.

SMEs constitute 80 percent of private industries and there is an urgent need to upgrade their capacity spearheaded by technology, said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen.

He was addressing the inauguration of the SME Machinery, Technology and Services (MT&S) Exhibition 2011 at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Exhibition Centre in Colombo recently.

The series of exhibitions, organised and led by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and assisted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, has been taking place as an annual event from 2006.

It is one of Sri Lanka's effective on-going Public Private Partnership (PPP) efforts.

The exhibition featuring agro technology, general engineering, handicrafts, and livestock machinery integrated the three aspects Machinery, Technology and Services (MT&S) and showcased a service provision aspect which featured consultancy and advice sessions (including credit financing advice) for SME industries.

The consultancies were on infusion of technology, and basic machinery related advice which came gratis from the local university circuit.

Minister Bathiudeen said " Eighty percent of our private sector industries fall in to the small and medium category.

There is no doubt about the lead role played by SMEs. It is then essential that we make the SME sector stronger and show the world their real capacity. More importantly, we should commit to modernise and upgrade our industrial technology on a continuous basis, be it SMEs or otherwise. Our government, with the support of the World Bank has committed an outlay of Rs.six billion to enhance SME industries."