SME ProLink Program builds bridges between SMEs from Eastern and Central Provinces

SME ProLink Participants

GIZ SME Development Program in partnership with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce successfully concluded a three day program which promoted business and social linkages between the SMEs in the Eastern and Central Provinces. The program titled ‘SME ProLink: Unity through Business’ was held from 9 to 11 August at the Hotel Glee in Trincomalee. 

During the conflict, businesses in the north and east were operating in isolation with hardly any links with their southern counter parts and this trend continued even after the end of the conflict due to lack of a clear program to link up the businesses in the respective provinces.

Hence the SME ProLink Program, an initiative of CCC and the GIZ was aimed at providing opportunities for the participating SMEs and businesses engaged in the production of Food and Beverages (F&B sector) to promote social, cultural and business linkages leading to improved communal harmony as well as business expansion. The Program was also aimed at improving businesses through sharing of experiences between comparatively more developed SMEs of the Central Province and their counterparts from the Eastern Province. 

GIZ SME Development Program organised this Program as a part of its advisory services on facilitating matchmaking between technology and innovation providers and SMEs’. Food and beverage (F&B) sector is a key SME sector for GIZ SME Development Program.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the District Chambers of Commerce in the Eastern and Central Provinces worked together to attract 60 suitable  Food and Beverage producing SMEs to participate in the ProLink Program. The program saw the participation of 51 SME operators, 28 from the Eastern Province and 23 SMEs from the Central Province in the three-day SME Linkage Program. 

The program commenced with a factory visit to the state of the art CIC Dairy Factory at Ibbankatuwa, Dambulla on 9 August. The senior staff of the CIC Dairy Factory explained in detail the production process of set yoghurt and drinking yoghurt, starting from milk procurement to distribution of finished products. The participants were educated on the process control systems adopted to maintain consistent quality and hygiene. The participating SMEs highly appreciated the knowledge gained through the factory visit and admitted that though they are not using sophisticated equipment similar to CIC dairies. 

The opening ceremony of the program was attended by K. Kulatheepan, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Trincomalee, Chandana Ranasinghe, Deputy Director, Industrial Development Board of the Trincomalee Office and J. M. Ameer, the Regional Manager of Central Bank’s Regional Office in Trincomalee.

The proceedings of the ProLink Program began with participants introducing themselves and the morning session of the Program included two technical sessions. Technical session one on Quality Standards for F&B SMEs conducted by Rasika Waduge, Assistant Director, Sri Lanka Standards Institute and Technical session two focused on ‘How SMEs can benefit from the latest advancements in Food Science & Technology’, which was conducted by Dr. Ilmi Hewajulige, Senior Deputy Director of the Industrial Technology Institute. Later on a session on ‘Linkages with corporate businesses and Super markets’ conducted by Yasantha De Saram of Cargills Ceylon Ltd. and a session on the importance of  obtaining ‘Bar codes’ was also conducted by Dumi Peiris and Fazil  Fazul of GS1 Sri Lanka.

A cultural night and a Networking Dinner was also organised to foster fellowship and promote closer linkages between participating SMEs. The event included music and singing by a local band, depicting and promoting communal harmony and brotherhood among three main communities in Sri Lanka. 

It was followed by a drama titled ‘Bhasa Moli,’ which highlighted the issues and consequences faced by the three main communities due to the language barriers. This drama, produced by Janakaraliya drama group led by Parakarama Niriella, which also focused on the importance of national reconciliation. The participants also performed various dance acts and sang songs depicting cultural identities of their communities. 

The cultural night and the networking dinner was a highly entertaining experience for all participants and it helped build closer interactions between the SMEs of the two regions.

The second day commenced with a debriefing on the proceedings of the first day and highlighting the learning points and sharing of experiences and then followed up with meetings between the SMEs from the two provinces. Around 110 B2B meetings were held between the SMEs of the two regions, apart from large number of informal meetings that took place between the participants.

The SME ProLink Program was successfully concluded with participants making a visit to several cultural sites in Trincomalee. Among the sites, they visited included the hot water wells in Kanniya and the Koneswaran Temple in Trincomalee. 

The feedback received from the participants provided evidence for the success of this program with them stating that the program helped meet their objectives; such as Enhancing the knowledge on improving the quality of the products and services; expanding business opportunities, backward and forward linkages with other participating SMEs and related stakeholders, finding new markets and enhanced cultural awareness and social linkages with SMEs from other provinces 

GIZ SME Development Program and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce together with the District Chambers of the Eastern and Central Provinces will provide follow up support to make these initial contacts and links expand in to long-term business partnerships.