Lanka receives highest number of schols under Colombo Plan

Sri Lanka is one of the recipients of the highest number of scholarships under the Colombo Plan(CP), said Secretary General, CP Patricia Yoon - Moi Chia.

Sri Lanka as one of the seven founder member countries has benefited tremendously since its inception in 1951. The first recipient of a Colombo Plan scholarship was Dr P. R. Anthonis.

Since 2005, the Colombo Plan has been building on the scholarship program and Sri Lanka has received nine scholarships per year while we will increase the share of scholarships in the future.

She said that the Colombo Plan helps to achieve the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) by building the capacity of government officials through training.

One key aspect of developing a country is through training and building the capacity of people, and added that Singapore has developed due to its quality civil service.

The Colombo Plan provided short-term scholarships to 12 Sri Lankan officials to attend training courses in private sector development in the areas of SME promotion, industrial development, international trade, agro enterprises and green productivity, held in the institutes of excellence in Korea, Singapore, China, India and Thailand.

Under the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program 595 Sri Lankans received training in various aspects of Drug Demand Reduction and Law Enforcement since 1995.

In 2007, nine Sri Lankans including four personnel from the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board participated in a two-week Regional Training Program on Drug Treatment, Rehabilitation and Aftercare in Bangkok, Thailand from September 10 to 28, 2007.

The Drug Advisory Program has also provided training material and equipment to the Sri Lanka Customs to enhance its capacity to combat drug trafficking.

Since the revitalisation of the Colombo Plan in 1995 under the first Secretary-General Hak-Su Kim, South-south Technical Cooperation (SSTC) is the main focus of the Colombo Plan Secretariat (CPS).

Through SSTC, the Colombo Plan promotes the sharing of successful experiences of member countries in the Asia Pacific region under the concept of self-help and mutual help, particularly in human resource development with specialisation in the program for Public Adminstration and Environment (PPA/ENV), Program for Private Sector Development (PPSD), Drug Advisory Program (DAP) and Long-term Scholarships Program (LTSP).

The CPS will continue to endeavour to expand the SSTC through the establishment of strategic partnerships with cooperating agencies in both developed and developing countries so as to enable member countries to move closer towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). SG