UNOPS and KOICA to boost Sri Lankan agriculture export competitiveness

KOICA Country Director Kang Youn Hwa shakes hands with UNOPS Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Sudhir Muralidharan at the signing ceremony 

The United Nations Office for Project Services in Sri Lanka (UNOPS) and the Government of Republic of Korea, through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Sri Lanka Office, announced the development of plant quarantine services for Colombo International Seaport and Airport during a signing ceremony held yesterday in Colombo.

The project aims to enhance the export competitiveness of Sri Lankan agricultural products through the improvement of plant quarantine capacity with KOICA’s fund of $ 6,000,000.

Among project components, UNOPS will implement construction and equipment procurement part worth of $ 1,750,000.

KOICA Sri Lanka Office is the grant aid division of Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka.

With the support of KOICA and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, UNOPS will work closely with the National Plant Quarantine Services, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and the Urban Development Authority, among others, to bring up Sri Lanka agricultural exports to international standards.

KOICA Country Director Kang Youn Hwa welcomed this renewed partnership with UNOPS. “The modernisation of quarantine services to international standards will enable greater access to global competitive agriculture exports and hence ensure greater economic benefits for Sri Lanka.”

This 30 months project worth $1,750,000 will strengthen plant quarantine capacity, the quality control done by good agriculture practice, support value chain development for agriculture export, as well as establish a Plant Quarantine Information Management System.

As part of the Framework Agreement between the Government of Korea and the Government of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Agriculture, UNOPS will support this partnership through the construction of resilient infrastructures and procurement of specialised laboratory equipment.

UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanna Singer highlighted the importance of this project in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals in promoting sustainable agriculture (SDG2), sustainable economic growth (SDG8) and resilient infrastructure to foster innovation (SDG9). “The United Nations in Sri Lanka is honoured to support the economic growth of the Government of Sri Lanka on its path to achieve sustainable agriculture through resilient infrastructure and innovative technology.”