Over Euro 100 Mn granted for agriculture and rural development by EU

The EU has been a long-standing partner for Sri Lanka since 2014 and today has invested over EURO 100 million as grants specially for agriculture and rural development which were key priority areas since 2014.

“This was to promote a more productive, market-oriented and sustainable agriculture In the country. We also help improve competitiveness and export of Sri Lankan food products,” said Beatrice BUSSI, (pictured) Interim Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives yesterday at the Forum on National Quality Infrastructure at Galle Face Hotel. Commenting more on the event she said it was part of the EU funded project titled Best Standardized Practices for the Agri-Food Sector Development which was implemented jointly by UNIDO and FAO.

Various studies point out that improved National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) function has a considerable impact on trade and economic growth, said Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Food Security, A. M. P. M. Atapattu.

“Based on global analyses by the World Bank, NQI-related activities in an economy account for an estimated 3 % to 16 % of GDP and affect more than 75 % of GDP. Presently, the government is in the view to transform Sri Lanka into a trade hub in South Asia.

Several projects and activities are in the pipeline. Notably, NQI and its related activities have an enormous impact on such transformation, promoting international trade to a greater extent.

“Areas such as market access, product diversification and product compliance can be greatly improved with the integration of existing institutions under the concept of NQI.” (SS)