$ 100 million Rural-Urban Development Project by WB to boost agriculture, climate resilience
Daily FT: The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a five-year Integrated Rural-Urban Development and Climate Resilience Project set to launch in June 2025.
The initiative backed by a $ 100 million concessional loan from the World Bank (WB) and technical assistance from the International Financial Corporation (IFC), aims to transform the agriculture sector while strengthening its ability to withstand climate change.
The project is designed to increase the productivity of food crops, plantation crops, livestock and fisheries, ensuring competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets.
The Government has outlined a comprehensive approach to achieving these goals including, climate-smart agriculture and diversification, water resource management, economic equity and market competitiveness, capacity building and training, and infrastructure and supply chain development.
“This project aligns with the broader sustainable development goals of the country, ensuring that both rural and urban communities benefit from economic growth, improved food security and climate adaptation measures,” Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s development drive to meet the demands of the country as it is on the path to achieving hub status in the South Asian region have opened up a host of new business/investment opportunities. Given Sri Lanka’s strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed with other countries, Sri Lanka is poised for further growth with an increasing business potential. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka’s development programme, especially given the funding allocations by multilateral financial institutions towards several key economic sectors. These emerging ventures could be looked at by foreign businesses/investors through collaborations with local businesses that could result in further expansion of operations.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250213/Z_4 |