Trinco entrepreneur Declaration coming sooner than expected

The initial draft of the pioneering international declaration on Entrepreneur Education (EE) announced on 12 October in Colombo, is to be finalised sooner than previously expected.

“Given the importance of SMEs in our economy we recently concluded the first UNESCO-APEID event in Sri Lanka which was also the first in South Asia.  It serves the reform vision of Unity government to link our SMEs to global markets” said the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 22 October. Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the special presentation even on 22 October at BMICH on validation session of the second draft report ‘Legal and Institutional Study for Creating Enabling Environment for SMEs’, commissioned by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

The pioneering Entrepreneurship Education (EE) series by UNESCO-APEID held for the first time in South Asia successfully concluded in Colombo on 12 October. The event, seventh in the global series was launched in Trincomalee on 9 October with the participation of delegates from 21 countries, resulted in a landmark international declaration that was made by participating international delegates, has now become a key initiative in global Entrepreneur Education (EE) reforms. The Declaration, once adopted by participants, shall introduce best practices in EE, as well as introduce EE to secondary, tertiary and TVET global curricula for the first time. “NEDA has successfully concluded South Asia’s first UNESCO-APEID event in Sri Lanka on 12 October resulting in the “Trincomalee Declaration on Entrepreneur Education” which is global in scope. I am pleased to say the first draft of this Declaration is to be made available within the next three weeks’ time. We believe we lack in good EE and there is a need to learn from international best practices as well” said Minister Bathiudeen on 22 October.

At 12 October event, NEDA Chairman-Director General Dakshitha Bogollagma said: “This Declaration is also seen as a ‘historic first’ in post-war Eastern Province, elevating the Province’ prominence globally, and enhancing its economic profile.”

The seventh UNESCO-APEID Sri Lanka series also elevated Sri Lanka as the newest Chair of prestigious UNESCO-APEID EE series-making it the first South Asian country to clinch this Chair- and as a result, Sri Lanka will lead the meeting series until Hong Kong or Brunei takes over later on. NEDA, Sri Lanka’s apex entrepreneur development agency under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, aims to develop Lankan economy by encouraging, promoting, and facilitating the budding Lankan start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs.