“We are empowered to work with the private sector” stressed USAID’s Deputy Head of Mission in Colombo Ms Elisabeth Davnie Eston during her meeting with the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 22nd August at the Minister’s office, in Colombo. The five member USAID team led by Ms Davnie Eston met Minister Bathiudeen to map out ways and means in which USAID could collaborate on ventures of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka. During this meeting Minister Bathiudeen called to enlist the USAID Mission here to boost soft skills of Lanka Sathosa personnel on par with the country’s competitive retail market.

Minister Bathuideen said that they have launched many initiatives to develop Lanka Sathosa to make it competitive. A private consultancy firm was enlisted to focus on the development of its many processes. We are embarking on expanding the number of stores across the country to 500 by the end of this year in all types of Lanka Sathosa stores. We have seven categories of stores and this proposed expansion impacts all of them. The present staff strength of 3,800 too is expected to increase as a result, to 5000, by end of this year. More importantly, we welcome a compatible skills training project at USAID to enhance Lanka Sathosa staff.