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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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FCCISL allocates Rs. one million for Mannar business school The Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka (FCCISL) has allocated one million rupees for the Mannar District Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (MDCCIA) to open a Business school said FCCISL president Nawaz Rajabdeen at the opening ceremony of the MDCCIA last week. He said that they hope to start the school by January next year and expect to get the proposals from the MDCCIA by December. Rajabdeen said that the FCCISL will sustain the MDCCIA for two years and it was a dream come true to start the chamber in Mannar. He said that there is much potential to develop fisheries based industries as well as micro and small enterprises. At present there is a Women's Development Centre in Mannar where more than 100 women are members. They are engaged in self-employment projects such as sewing, food making and selling fish. We are planning to make it an arm of the MDCCIA. He said that due to the tsunami a few boats and a large number of nets have been damaged and they are trying to negotiate with a donor country to bring them back to business. Rajabdeen said a major requirement of the area is a modern ice plant as well as a packaging facility. Government Agent Mannar District A. Viswalingam said that prior to the opening of the MDCCIA traders were working in isolation as there was nobody to give guidance. The setting up of the MDCCIA will help in linking up with the FCCISL which will open a host of benefits for members such as opportunities to enhance their knowledge in commerce and banking and also attract more bidders when tenders are called for infrastructure projects. He said already Mannar has good health facilities, education and water supply and therefore we are now concentrating on developing the internal roads since economic infrastructure is a must to attract private sector investment. Another major drawback in the area is the lack of skilled masons, plumbers and welders. Since the area does not have a Technical or vocational training institute training the youngsters is a problem, Viswalingam said. Secretary General FCCISL Samantha Abeywickrama said that this is the 25th regional chamber opened and it is a great achievement since we were trying to open it for the last three years. We were finally able to achieve our goal with the help of the Vavuniya Chamber officials. He said that there is a lot of potential for development in the area of agriculture but water is a problem. As land is available another area that can be developed in tourism. Abeywickrama said that there is a lot of development issues that the government has to consider and therefore linking the business community of Mannar with the rest of the country will help facilitate a North East dialogue and help them to present their issues and difficulties at regional and national level. President MDCCIA Rex Kulas said that they are planning to increase the membership to 350 within one year. We are also eager to start the business school so that we can teach English, Accountancy and entrepreneurship to our members. |
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