Development assistance in Sri Lanka
Overview
In 2021-22, Australia pivoted existing development programs to respond to the impacts of the economic crisis and COVID-19 and improve the conditions for an inclusive economic recovery.
Through DFAT’s Eliminating Barriers to Economic Growth program with the World Bank, we are providing technical assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka for economic recovery. The World Bank is providing policy and market advice, facilitating knowledge exchanges on key policy issues, trainings, and workshops in the areas of finance, trade, and investment.
We will support Sri Lanka’s economic recovery through increasing trade and education linkages. Australian businesses and institutions are already investing in a range of sectors including minerals, water, energy, manufacturing, and education. These investments will support jobs, income generation and foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka and export earnings for Australia. They are important to re-establish safe and efficient global supply chains.
Related initiatives
Economic Opportunities for the Poor
$56 million, 2014 to 2027
Through our Economic Opportunities for the Poor portfolio, we have adjusted support to address the immediate impacts of the economic crisis in several areas, with a view to Sri Lanka’s longer recovery. We refocused our livelihoods and market development program to assist with faster economic recovery in selected value chains of importance to Sri Lanka’s recovery.
Two major activities in this portfolio are the Market Development Facility (MDF) and Skill for Inclusive Growth (S4IG) programs. They aim to reduce poverty through inclusive, private sector-led economic growth. Both investments will deliver the Australian Government's development priorities by adapting innovative private sector development approaches with proven results in Australia’s development program and by improving women's economic empowerment.
The MDF operates to identify and analyse sectors that have the potential for strong, pro-poor growth. It develops partnerships with key players, including SMEs, in the private sector to grow markets and strengthen the engagement of the poor with those markets. S4IG pilots a flexible, market-oriented technical vocational education and training (TVET) program in Sri Lanka's poorest provinces, focusing on the poor (especially women and people with a disability) in the informal sector. It seeks to improve the ability of the poor to gain jobs in the expanding tourism sector as it recovers from the impacts of the economic crisis.
| Name of document | Year published |
|---|---|
| Skills for Inclusive Growth – Design Concept | 2016 |
Related links
Please see the Market Development Facility homepage for further information, including current progress reports and reviews.
Women in Work
$13.27 million, 2015 to 2023
Our Women in Work investment aims to improve the understanding in medium-to-large Sri Lankan companies of the compelling business case to hire more women; increase access to, and use of, financial services for micro, small and medium enterprises owned by or employing significant numbers of women; and improve large companies’ investment in women in their supply chains.