Only 3% of SL’s workforce pursue entrepreneurship, says NEDA

By Nuzla Rizkiya
The National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) recently shared that Sri Lanka has a drastically low entrepreneurial interest among its citizens as only 3 percent of the current working population are engaged in entrepreneurship.
Speaking at the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024 at the Chambers of Commerce this week, NEDA Director Dhanuka Liyanagamage called the figure “pathetic” when compared to Sri Lanka’s regional peers and stressed the need to promote and adopt entrepreneurship on a larger scale in the country.
However, he noted that Sri Lanka has come a long way, especially after the crisis in 2022 to understand the vital role entrepreneurs play in the country’s development. 
“Parents in Sri Lanka encourage their children to pursue higher education, but rarely do they encourage them to pursue entrepreneurship. Even at the university level, we sat through lectures about job opportunities but never discussed entrepreneurship,” Liyanagamage said.
“But now, things are changing. People have realised the need to support entrepreneurship if we are to get out of this mess. We are still very low; only 3 percent of the working population become entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. This is a pathetic number compared to our regional peers. We need to increase this figure to at least 10 percent within the next 3-5 years,” he added.

He also acknowledged that bureaucratic red tape remains a significant challenge for local businesses and expressed hope that the new administration would help eliminate these obstacles.
While there are several public institutions established to support entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, he noted that due to the decentralised nature of these institutions, there is a serious lack of coordination, efficient initiatives and a lot of repeated efforts in supporting local businesses.
“There are about 50 government agencies established to support entrepreneurs. But we have to accept the fact that we sometimes work as rival organisations, intentionally or unintentionally. We invade each other’s territories and see a lot of repetition which I think could be eliminated if we are better connected,” Liyanagamage said.
However, he also stressed that Sri Lanka also needs a paradigm shift in the mindset of entrepreneurs. While the country has a high literacy rate, financial literacy remains low, especially among small and medium enterprise (SMEs) owners which then fuels major challenges and complications in promoting entrepreneurship.
As a result of the gap, pressing issues such as limited access to finance, challenges with business registration and difficulties with regulatory processes have become more prevalent among local businesses, according to Liyanagamage.
“Entrepreneurship has become a popular concept, even among donors who now are increasingly directing their grants to support the sector. This is a positive development and something to be appreciated. We hope that under the new government’s digital agency, many of these obstacles will be eliminated. As an apex institution to support entrepreneurs, we are committed to driving this initiative” he asserted.