‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ to be established as dedicated agency for SME support

The Government has decided to establish a brand new consolidated and dedicated agency named ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ for the monitoring and development of Sri Lanka’s struggling small and medium (SME) sector efficiently.

President Ranil Wickrememsinghe in his capacity as Minister of Investment Promotion joined with the Minister of Industries Ramesh Pathirana and sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to establish the a proposed institution ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ as one entity. 

It will be dedicated for small and medium scale enterprises through redesigning institutional and legal framework of the Export Development Board, National Entrepreneurship Development Authority, Industrial Development Board, Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation and the Small Enterprises Development Division of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. 

Accordingly, it was decided to direct the Legal Draftsmen to formulate a draft bill for the establishment of the proposed agency.

During the Yahapalanaya regime, then government launched Enterprise Sri Lanka loan scheme in particular targeting the SME sector under vision 2025. However, the programme which was under the Minister of Finance was later abandoned by Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime.

The Government Information Department noted that the proposed Agency would be established on par with international better practices based on a review completed by subject experts.