SECRETARY OF MODSIT, MINISTER OF MODSIT, USAID/SRI LANKA MISSION DIRECTOR, AND SAIL COP AT THE KANDY PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUE/ INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT Final Report
April 16, 2021
This publication was produced by International Development Group LLC, for review by the United States Agency for International Development. ACRONYMS
AfD Agency for Development BEE Business Enabling Environment BOI Board of Investment CBEU Ceylon Bank Employees Union CC&CRMD Coast Conservation Department & Coastal Resource Management Department CEA Central Environmental Authority CESU Ceylon Estates Staff Union CGL Commissioner General of Labor CLA Collaboration, Learning and Adaption CMC Colombo Municipal Council CMU Ceylon Mercantile, Industry and General Workers Union COP Chief of Party DOL Department of Labor EDB Export Development Board EFC Employers’ Federation of Ceylon EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EPF Employees’ Provident Fund ERD External Resources Department ETF Employees’ Trust Fund FDI Foreign Direct Investment FTA Free Trade Agreement GoSL Government of Sri Lanka GSP+ Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus IDA Industrial Disputes Act IEE Initial Environmental Examination IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labor Organization IRU Investor Relations Unit ITA Information Technology Agreement LJEWU Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union MDA Ministry, Department, and Agency MIEIP Ministry of Industrial Exports and Investment Promotions MODSIT Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade MOLTUR Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations NBRO National Building Research Organization NDC Nationally Determined Contributions NLAC National Labor Advisory Council NTUF National Trade Union Federation PARTNER Partnership for Accelerating Results in Trade, National Expenditure and Revenue PPDs Public-Private Dialogues PTA Preferential Trade Agreement SCM Scoping Committee Meeting SLTDA Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority
SME Small and Medium Enterprise SSLRA Sri Lanka’s Support for the Sri Lankan Reform Agenda SLSFTA Sri-Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement SLTA Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance TEWA Termination of Employment of Workmen Act TPD Tourism Planning and Development UDA Urban Development Authority USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government WB World Bank WBO Wages Board Ordinance WTO World Trade Organization
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND SHORTCOMINGS 5 INVESTMENT FACILITATION 5 TRADE FACILITATION/POLICY 22 LABOR LAW REFORM 25 CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITIES - COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH 33 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE USAID ASSISTANCE 36 ANNEX I: INDICATOR SUMMARY TABLE 37 ANNEX II: TECHNICAL REPORTS 39 ANNEX III: LIST OF ALL HOST COUNTRY, INTERNATIONAL DONOR, AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CONTACTS 40 ANNEX IV: SRI LANKA LABOR CODE 42 ANNEX V: FINANCIAL REPORT 43
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In consultation with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), a Government with reform high on their agenda, USAID launched the Supporting Accelerated SAIL PROJECT RESULTS Investment in Sri Lanka (SAIL) project in November 2016. The goal of the project was to assist with the • 42 percent reduction in time required GoSL’s economic reforms, targeting improvements in for an investment approval from 54.5 the business enabling environment (BEE) and factors working days in 2016 to 31.5 in 2020. affecting FDI. While Sri Lanka had experienced strong economic growth in the past ten years, including a • 16 percent reduction in time required to growth rate of 7 percent in both 2013 and 2014, obtain a development permit from 49 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had remained static working days in 2017 to 42 in 2020. in relation to domestic economic growth. SAIL was a part of the larger and more broad-based USAID • 10 business environment laws, support for the ‘Support to the Sri Lankan Reform regulations, or administrative procedures Agenda’ (SSLRA), to realize democratic and economic were passed or approved. reforms and other related initiatives such as the GoSL’s Vision 2025. • 43 business environment laws, SAIL was designed around two main objectives and regulations, or administrative procedures provided: 1) expert advice on legislative and were drafted or submitted for regulatory reform to attract and retain FDI, and 2) public/stakeholder consultation or analysis and recommendations to improve institutions, legislative consideration. laws, and the regulatory environment, as these related to attracting and retaining FDI in Sri Lanka. Project • 12 public-private dialogues were activities focused primarily on providing technical conducted to facilitate the discussion on assistance to improve the BEE, promoting FDI, and improving legislative and regulatory developing institutional and individual capacity. environment addressing FDI attraction.
The Ministry of Development Strategies and • 2,147 person hours of training International Trade (MODSIT) was assigned by the completed in business enabling GoSL as the counterpart ministry for the SAIL project. MODSIT proved to be a dynamic partner environment. with a cadre of result-oriented government officers, enthusiastic to learn and to cooperate. In consultation • 15 new public and private institutions with the Minister and his senior personnel, the focus received capacity development support for SAIL was quickly established. SAIL immediately from SAIL. assisted MODSIT in the formulation of a communications strategy and began work on an assessment of the current labor law and legislation surrounding contract enforcement.
INVESTMENT FACILITATION One of the main goals of the SAIL project was to increase the amount of investment inflow to Sri Lanka with the aim to build on the World Bank’s previous assistance in this sector. SAIL quickly recognized that 30 percent of FDI is focused in the tourism sector and identified the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Agency (SLTDA) under the Ministry of Tourism as a major entity for attracting FDI to Sri Lanka. With an agreement between USAID and MODSIT, SAIL engaged with SLTDA to form a strong working relationship.
1 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV SAIL’s achievements in the investment facilitation sphere include:
• A preliminary clearance common application form now encompasses 13 agencies and can be expanded to cover more as required. The information gathered in this single application, meets the application needs of all agencies and reduces time and cost for investors. The design of the application form allows the process to easily become fully automated.
• Key agency processes are mapped out for preliminary clearance, development permit, and certificate of conformity to understand the approval process of other agencies responsible for approving tourism investment and to strengthen the communication and cooperation between them.
• With SAIL support, SLTDA signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and developed nine MoUs with key agencies.
• A consolidated Site Inspection Checklist developed for SLTDA and key line agencies avoid duplication of efforts in site inspections and better prepare the officers to conduct the inspection.
• SLTDA and other key approval agencies use training materials and templates developed by SAIL joint Scoping Committee Meetings (SCMs) bringing together SLTDA and key agencies to view investor presentations and discuss different aspects of the investment proposals.
• Investor Relations Unit (IRU) operations manual, compiled in collaboration with SLTDA, directing the IRU staff step-by-step through the actions they are required to take upon the receipt of a new investment application. This document will now become a guide for staff to follow and will further become a part of the agency’s key results matrix including the introduction of minimum service standards.
• A comprehensive investor handbook is now available and reduces time and cost required for investment approvals thus instilling confidence in investors.
• The draft Tourist Accommodation Design Guidelines define and describe tourism accommodation spaces, informing designers and investors on minimum requirements for designing and building a tourist accommodation facility in Sri Lanka.
• SLTDA has initiated reviewing Sri Lanka’s hotel classification system with the goal of making it more responsive to the industry and customer needs.
• 846 person hours of training were completed for the SLTDA staff and key ministry/department staffs on streamlined tourism investment approval process.
• Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance, a private sector industry organization, is well established and resilient, responding to crisis such as the Easter Sunday Bombings in Sri Lanka and COVID-19 pandemic.
SAIL assisted SLTDA to untangle investment processes that involve multiple agencies and duplicated efforts. No one investor received the same information on the process, and applications with large investment potential would be delayed for months, even years, with many investors choosing to withdraw and to invest elsewhere in the region. The Ministry of Tourism confirmed that this
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 2 complicated process has been a significant barrier to attracting FDI. The ministry sought to streamline their processes for attracting FDI and improve them to be user-friendly and transparent.
SAIL, working closely with officers from SLTDA, developed a new Common Application Form for investors (which covers multiple agencies) and authored an Investors handbook, leading investors through the entire investment process. More importantly, SAIL developed and delivered an Operations Manual for the staff of SLTDA. Extensive training was carried out for the officers of SLTDA, and they were able to meaningfully contribute to all products that SAIL produced, ensuring ownership.
The work carried out and the success achieved throughout the life of the project has laid the cornerstone for further growth. SLTDA is currently working on automating their systems which will lead to further time saving, accountability, and importantly ensuring that the investment process is transparent.
TRADE FACILITATION/POLICY Toward the end of 2018, MODSIT approached USAID for assistance in addressing several trade issues within Sri Lanka. Once USAID determined that this request was directly related to FDI, SAIL began providing technical advice to MODSIT on trade issues. SAIL worked with MODSIT on the adoption of the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement (WTO ITA), Revision of the Import- Export Control Act, Competition Law, and the monitoring and adoption of free trade agreements. SAIL also successfully organized a series of public-private dialogues (PPDs) on trade, both centrally and regionally, allowing MODSIT to interact with the private sector and highlight the benefits of trade. The feedback on the PPDs was significant and the press coverage for the Ministry and for USAID was extensive and positive. In November 2019, USAID launched the Partnership for Accelerating Results in Trade, National Expenditure and Revenue (PARTNER) Activity, and in March 2020, SAIL, after finishing all work in progress on trade, handed the trade related work to the PARTNER Activity.
SAIL’s major achievements under trade facilitation/policy include:
• Assessments and trainings on the monitoring of free trade agreements allowed the GoSL to understand and to track their benefits and has built confidence in the responsible Ministries to enable them to make informed decisions on future trade agreements.
• Discussion on the adoption of the WTO ITA is reinvigorated and the agreement is expected to be ratified in the near future by the GoSL. Adoption of the WTO ITA is expected to increase FDI and outweigh any short-term import revenue loss.
• A series of public-private dialogues allowed the Ministries and agencies to understand various stakeholders concerns and fears on topics including how to maximize benefits while minimizing risk in the global trading economy. In 2019 alone, three PPD’s were held attracting over 300 guests.
During the four years over which SAIL was implemented, Sri Lanka went through a Constitutional Crisis, a major terrorist attack, a Presidential election, a full Government election, and like the rest of the world struggled with a Pandemic. Through all these challenges, SAIL continued to make progress. In large part due to our approach of creating strong bonds and forming collaborative working relationships with our counterpart colleagues at mid-management level, in the Ministries and Agencies we worked with. These individuals were largely unaffected by changes in government and held the
3 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV institutional reform history allowing SAIL to carry on with business whilst leadership at the top shifted. Sri Lanka elected a new government (August 2020) committed to boosting investment and enhancing the role of the private sector as Sri Lanka continues its transition to become an upper-middle income country. We are confident of further reform successes.
LABOR LAW REFORM One of the main goals of the SAIL program was to address legislative and regulatory issues regarding FDI. There was an emphasis on enhancing contract enforcement in labor laws to entice future investment. To confront labor law challenges SAIL worked through the Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations (MOLTUR).
SAIL’s work on labor law reform led to the following accomplishments;
• MOLTUR has the fourth draft of the unified labor law (translated into all three official languages) and a framework of required implementing regulations. The draft labor law not only addresses women’s rights in the workplace but also allows flexibility for both employers and employees.
• The PPDs on labor, carried out in multiple regions in Sri Lanka, opened the dialogue on the need for reform and specifically highlighted gender inclusion concerns.
• The GoSL and MOLTUR are fully incorporating outreach and communication strategy into their operations to obtain feedback from stakeholders.
SAIL and MOLTUR worked in tandem to modernize labor laws to confront the demands of the modern digital economy through a variety of initiatives and focuses. SAIL carried out several PPDs on Labor Law and the need for change. The SAIL team also worked closely with the Commissioner General of Labor (CGL) and the legal drafting team from MOLTUR. In this capacity women’s rights were of particular importance and were a driver when drafting the new law. The draft labor law went through many iterations and improvements until MOLTUR was confident that it was time to share the second full draft with Union representatives. MOLTUR and SAIL proceeded with a third and then a fourth amended draft of the Labor Law.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 4 SUMMARY OF PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND SHORTCOMINGS
INVESTMENT FACILITATION
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
INVESTMENT FACILITATION OUTCOMES • With SAIL’s support, the time to complete the approval process has dropped by 42 percent to 31.5 working days in 2020 from 54.5 working days in 2016, suggesting increased efficiency in processing applications.
• The time required to obtain a development permit was reduced by 16 percent from 49 working days in 2017 to 42 in 2020, leading to cost savings for investors.
• Mapping of its processes, facilitating interagency coordination and scoping committee meetings, and introducing the site inspection checklist and the operations manual improved IRU’s ability to process the approvals. The IRU processed 54 applications totaling $879.94 million in proposed tourism investments in 2020 alone.
• The preliminary clearance common application form, investor handbook, and tourist accommodation design guidelines reduces confusion on the approval process and leads to time and cost savings for the investors.
• 226 GoSL staff were trained on the streamlined tourism investment approval process.
• The Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance has grown rapidly into a fully functioning, all-inclusive organization able to represent the industry at all levels.
SAIL and Tourism The SAIL project was initiated in response to a request from the BOI to simplify investment into Sri Lanka. One of the industries with the largest percentage of foreign investment in Sri Lanka is tourism which receives approximately 30 percent of the nation’s FDI. Because tourism has such a large portion of FDI, SAIL sought to partner with the Ministry of Tourism to improve the investment facilitation in Sri Lanka.
Streamlining Investment Approval Process While focusing on tourism SAIL began working directly with the SLTDA to evaluate and streamline the investment approvals process for tourism. In early 2017, the SAIL team began gathering feedback from SLTDA on the existing process and identify where bottlenecks existed, as well as the challenges faced by the staff. The team then began to map all key processes to develop a deeper understanding of all the steps involved in the process and identify the stakeholders involved in the approval process.
Despite its importance to the country’s economy, the investment approval process was fraught with excessive delays due to both a lack of coordination among the many agencies involved, as well as SLTDA
5 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV IRU’s internal processes. The BEE Team set out to streamline these processes and provide navigational guides to help investors successfully make it through the investment process. To achieve its streamlining goals, the BEE Team focused on two primary targets: 1) making the investments approval process easier and more transparent for investors; and 2) ensuring that the SLTDA IRU team is prepared and has the resources it needs to effectively support the process. Main activities included expanding on and finalizing previous streamlining and investor communication activities, designing and implementing an ambitious training program, providing industry tools for improving the quality of tourist accommodation facilities, and supporting SLTDA in its effort to update and redesign the country’s hotel classification system.
Automated Investment Approval Process When SLTDA began working with SAIL, it believed that it was on the verge of instituting a fully automated approval process. Since the move to full automation was likely to take some time, it was agreed that both an interim investment approval process and a final re-engineered automated process should be developed. Over the next several years of the project, it became apparent that automation was taking longer than originally envisioned. Therefore, the project redoubled its efforts to improve the existing process to ensure successful navigation of tourism investment projects independent of automation progress. As expected, SAIL’s efforts in streamlining the existing manual processes will serve as a solid base for automation, which may finally begin in 2021.
COVID-19 and SAIL Investment Facilitation Activities SAIL and SLTDA maintained their relationship through various challenges. The relationship did not cease even after the devastating consequences of the bomb blast in April 2019 or during the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The third and fourth years of the project saw an increased intensity of the activity, despite delays relating to COVID-19. The addition of key technical specialists and the presence of the team in-country together for a significant amount of time, even during COVID-19 restrictions, enabled SAIL to maintain and increase momentum on current initiatives, as well as expand the support provided to SLTDA for these reforms.
MOU CEREMONY / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 6 DEVELOPING PRELIMINARY CLEARANCE COMMON APPLICATION FORM SAIL’s work with the SLTDA IRU began by collecting feedback from the IRU staff on its role in the approval process and gaining its agreement on a streamlining strategy. SAIL then presented SLTDA with a Reform Strategy/Change Management Strategy and obtained SLTDA Chairman and Board approval of the streamlined investments approval processes, timeframes, and documentation requirements for both the interim and final approval processes.
The Project then studied the investment approval process in key institutions with a view to streamline the process and to establish clear mechanisms to ensure coordination and information flow across all parties. One problem that immediately became apparent was that the many different approving agencies all used different application forms and required different accompanying documents. Potential investors had to go from agency to agency, filling out multiple forms, providing a variety of documents, and inevitably getting a multitude of agency-specific requests for additional information. All of this resulted in delays and discouraged some investors from continuing with the process.
In order to address this lack of coordination, SAIL supported the IRU to develop and adopt a Common Application form to be used by all agencies involved in providing preliminary clearance for tourism investment projects. Importantly, the other agencies agreed not just to the application form, but also the required supporting documents. SAIL provided an editable PDF version of the Common Application form which is now available on SLTDA’s website: https://sltda.gov.lk/storage/common_media/Common%20Application%20Form_20200416_Fillable105270
2601.pdf.
PRELIMINARY CLEARANCE COMMON APPLICATION FORM / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
MAPPING KEY AGENCY PROCESSES The BEE Team fully understood the importance of understanding the processes of other approval agencies to discover potential sources of incongruencies and inefficiencies that could be improved. The team embarked on a labor-intensive program from October 2018 to July 2019 to map the business processes of the main agencies whose approvals are relevant to obtaining a Preliminary Clearance, Development Permit and/or Certificate of Conformity. This involved multiple meetings and communications with the relevant agencies to both understand and validate the processes. The agencies involved included the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Coast Conservation & Coastal Resource Management Department (CC&CRMD), Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), and the National Building Research Organization (NBRO). This task also had the effect of strengthening the communication, trust,
7 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV and cooperation between the agencies responsible for approving tourism investments. . The CEA process especially was a high priority for SAIL and SLTDA, so it was a notable achievement to see that CEA and SLTDA agreed to work together and to allow SAIL to map their core processes.
Key business processes mapped out by SAIL include the following:
• NBRO o Process for obtaining an environmental recommendation & approval; Environmental protection license (EPL); Appellate procedure
• CEA o Process for Coastal Development Permit (Type A, Type B)
• CC&CCMD o Process for solid waste clearance certificate o Process for Street Line/ Building Line Certificate o Process for Sewerage and Storm Water Clearance o Process for Fire Safety Clearance o Process for Obtaining Fire Recommendations for the Certificate of Conformity
• CMC o Process for obtaining a Landslide Risk Assessment Report for construction in landslide prone areas o Process for Building Construction Clearance Letter
SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING WITH KEY AGENCIES Highlights of the Memorandum of Understandings
• Developed framework for MoUs in tourism • Verbal commitments from 85 high level representatives from 21 key agencies to adhere to MoUs • Media coverage in four national newspapers
To address the delay in obtaining approvals from the various agencies involved, the team agreed to develop multiple MoUs to formalize the roles and levels of service between SLTDA and the other approving agencies. This was important as SLTDA does not technically have the legal authority to demand control over tourism investment projects. Thus, gaining the other agencies’ consent to SLTDA’s exercise of jurisdiction was critical.
The SAIL team developed a MoU Framework for SLTDA to use for its agreements with other agencies and supported the preparation of draft MoUs with the Urban Development Authority (UDA), BOI, CEA, CC&CRMD, CMC, NBRO, Department of Agrarian Services, Forestry Department, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Department of Irrigation, and the Department of Archaeology.
SLTDA signed a MoU with UDA on August 15, 2018. This event was attended by USAID, government agencies, and representatives from SLTDA and UDA. The event was covered by the local press extensively, with articles being published in both local languages.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 8 Additionally, on September 21, 2018, the project convened the first consultation of priority line agencies involved in the tourism investments approvals process, where a presentation of the streamlining activities, proposed changes, and details of the proposed MoUs were discussed.
SLTDA signed a MoU with CC&CRMD on November 8, 2019. This was a direct result of the well-attended Networking Evening, organized by SAIL/SLTDA on November 5, 2019 that brought together the key GoSL approving authorities to unite them in the common purpose of fostering tourism investments. The SAIL team facilitated this event which was well received by the audience. Key agencies made verbal commitments to move forward on the MoUs. A total of 85 high-level representatives from 21 key departments, line agencies and ministries involved in the tourism investment approval processes and the SAIL team participated in the event.
SLTDA signed its MoU with BOI on Monday, February 10, 2020. As part of the MoU implementation, BOI sent keynote speakers to one Secretary of Tourism opening the of the SLTDA internal trainings on investment incentives for Networking Evening 2019, with tourism projects. presentations by IRU and USAID SAIL A media release developed by SLTDA on the MoU signing between SLTDA and CC&CRMD, as well as the MoU signing between SLTDA and BOI were featured in four national newspapers, generating wide coverage. The role played by the SAIL project in facilitating the MoU signing and in the streamlining of the tourism investment approval process was also noted in the release.
SAIL COP with officials of SLTDA and Signing of the MoUs with NBRO and CEA was delayed due to CC&CRMD at the MOU signing COVID-19, but both NBRO and CEA are ready to sign their MoUs with SLTDA. The MoU with CMC is currently under revision. All other agencies have received draft MoUs, and SLTDA is following up with these agencies. To facilitate these efforts, SLTDA intends to hold another networking event during 2021.
DEVELOPING SITE INSPECTION CHECKLISTS
In addition to fostering better coordination at the application stage, MoU signing ceremony of SLTDA SAIL supported SLTDA to advance other interactions with the with BOI approval agencies. For example, prior to SAIL assistance, multiple agencies conducted their own site inspections, forcing the investor INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC to arrange multiple site visits with different agencies which resulted in increased investor frustration and higher opportunities for rent- seeking behavior. To avoid the duplication of efforts and assist in shepherding the site inspection process, SLTDA began coordinating joint site inspections. SAIL worked with SLTDA to improve the quality and effectiveness of these interactions, both through capacity building and providing site inspection checklists for each agency.
9 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV To improve the quality of reporting from SLTDA-led site inspections, the SAIL team developed Site Inspection Checklists for the IRU as well as for twelve other participating key line agencies and the divisional secretariats and local authorities. The checklists enabled officers to come better prepared to the site inspection and allowed them to provide specific comments to the investor and to SLTDA that are relevant for obtaining the Preliminary Clearance. SLTDA will now translate the checklist into Sinhala and Tamil, and field test them during future regional trainings for their usefulness and clarity.
The site inspection checklists have been sent out to the IRU’s focal points in other agencies, selected divisional secretariats, and local authorities and are now awaiting feedback and approval. CEA, CC&CRMD, the Department of Fisheries, and the Department of Archaeology have already responded with their comments, which will be incorporated into the revision of their site inspection checklists.
PRIORITY LINE AGENCY CONSULTATION OF TOURISM INVESTMENT APPROVAL PROCESS / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
SUPPORTING SCOPING COMMITTEE MEETING (SCM) SAIL provided trainings and templates for joint SCMs, in which SLTDA brings together the key approval agencies to view presentations from investors and discuss different aspects of the investment proposals.
SAIL partnered with SLTDA to redesign and introduce new templates and tools for their SCMs. This included revised investor presentations and templates for the approval agencies. These tools allowed them to communicate with SLTDA prior to the SCM with specific comments, and internal templates for IRU staff use. SAIL also provided training on best practices and etiquette for the SCMs.
The SCMs have been going so well that one investor took to Twitter to offer praise for the process:
“Amazed by the professionalism and the efficiency @sltda_srilanka. Submitted a project proposal about 2 weeks ago, had the presentation today. They were fully supportive and encouraging. So far, I’ve only been pleasantly surprised. #kudos.”
Twitter post from an investor after a SCM, September 8, 2020
DEVELOPING SLTDA IRU OPERATIONS MANUAL Prior to working with the SAIL team, since the IRU’s inception in October 2010, there was no written set of guidelines to instruct staff on how to process applications. There were also no timeframes for
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 10 these tasks and no tools to track their progress. There was potential for delays because the approval process and investors had no clear visibility into the process. The IRU did not systematically follow up with other agencies to obtain the required clearances/approvals. Overall, the IRU did not offer a standardized quality of service delivery for the investors.
To ensure that the IRU can implement and maintain consistent standards in handling tourism investment applications while adhering to the streamlined approved process, the Project developed a comprehensive SLTDA IRU Operations Manual (with templates, forms, checklists, and other supporting documents) that provided all the resources staff members need for every step of the approval process. It was developed for IRU to make it easier for tourism investors to receive a standardized and consistent quality of service and to further enhance the experience of foreign and domestic investors in Sri Lanka. The Operations Manual was prepared in December 2018 and completed on January 12, 2021. It is a living document and will be updated over time as needed. The Operations Manual codifies much of the tacit knowledge that individual staff members of IRU have. Now, with the support of the SAIL team, the IRU staff have a daily desk reference for the work that they do, and it will be easier to train new IRU staff. The Operations Manual will also be the corner stone of the upcoming automation of the case management system of the IRU.
IRU OPERATIONS MANUAL / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
The Operations Manual provides step-by-step guidance on the approval process Road Map which is the guiding process map provided to SLTDA by the SAIL Project and shows the entire approval process (see figure below).
The Operations Manual formed the basis for trainings. Feedback obtained during these trainings was then incorporated into the Manual in an iterative process that has resulted in user-friendly document fully owned by the IRU staff.
The Manual includes 88 templates/forms/checklists and supporting documents that IRU staff can use through every step of their facilitation activities. It also includes an Excel Processing Fee Calculator that helps IRU staff calculate all fees payable to the varying agencies.
It is mandatory for the IRU staff to follow the steps and track the progress of each application, including identifying delays, determining what caused the delay, and spotting potential for further streamlining. Keeping within the set timeframes will become a key performance indicator for IRU staff once the Director General has released an internal memo indicating this.
11 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV Fifteen binders of the printed Operations Manual and Appendices were delivered to the IRU in the last week of January 2021. The Manual and all its Appendices have been uploaded to an IRU Google folder “Operations Manual - IRU” to which only the Subject Officers and Assistant Directors have access. A separate folder “Templates for IRU common use” has been created for the Office Assistants and Trainees with selected templates for the specific tasks for which they are responsible.
TOURISM INVESTMENT APPROVAL PROCESS MAP / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
PROVIDING INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT TO MODSIT AND GOSL STAFF Overall, the SAIL Project in collaboration with the SLTDA IRU, delivered fifteen trainings to 226 participants, of which 47 percent were male and 53 percent female. A total of 846 training person hours (106 person days) were provided to strengthen the capacities of GoSL staff in the streamlined tourism investment approval process (see Table 1).
(1) Internal trainings for staff of IRU and the Tourism Planning & Development Division (TPD) on the streamlined tourism investment approval process
The main training objective was to empower the SLTDA IRU to fulfil its mission of being a facilitator for tourism investors: (a) to enable them to implement the new streamlined tourism investment approval process, (b) to make it easy for investors to get a standardized quality of service delivery, and (c) to enhance the experience for tourism investors, foreign and domestic alike. There were general introductory workshops followed by a targeted training program.
(1.1) General introductory workshops for staff of IRU and TPD: From May 2017 to July 2018, the project conducted an initial set of five general introductory workshops for the SLTDA staff. The first focused on familiarizing the existing staff with international best practices, roles, and responsibilities of their unit. While this may seem basic, it was an exercise to gauge the level at which further training should be formulated. It also informed the BEE Expert to make an assessment as to the level of
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 12 competence at the IRU when developing the organizational structure. The second and third workshops focused on building the competencies of client-facing staff and customer services excellence at the IRU. The fourth workshop covered the streamlined Preliminary Clearance process where the team was familiarized with new templates and tools that had been developed. The fifth workshop focused on building communications skills and presentations when meeting new investors. There was a total of 45 training participants in five workshops, of which 31 percent were male and 69 percent were female. 157 training person hours were provided (19.6 training person days) to develop the capacities of SLTDA.
TABLE 1: AGGREGATED TRAINING DATA ON TOURISM INVESTMENT APPROVAL PERIOD OF PARTIC TRAINING TRAININGS MALE FEMALE IMPL. IPANTS EFFORT TRAINING TOTAL Pers. Pers. FROM TO PLAN IMPL. No. % No. % NO. Hour Day (1) Internal trainings for staff of IRU and TPD on streamlined tourism investment approval process (1.1) General introductory May Jul 5 5 45 14 31.1 31 68.9 156.5 19.6 workshops 2017 2018 Dec Dec (1.2) Targeted training series 19 8 143 72 50.3 71 49.7 533.5 66.7 2019 2020 Sub-total 24 13 188 86 45.7 102 54.3 690.0 86.3 (2) External trainings for key MDAs on selected steps of the streamlined tourism investment approval process (2.1) Ext. trainings for staff of Oct Mar 2 2 38 20 52.6 18.0 47.4 156.0 19.5 head offices of key MDAs 2018 2019 (2.2) Ext. trainings for regional Not 4 0 officers of key MDAs, DS, LAs implemented Sub-total 6 2 May Dec TOTAL 30 15 226 106 46.9 120 53.1 846.0 105.8 2017 2020
(1.2) Targeted training series for staff of IRU and TPD: Towards the end of 2019, along with the development of the Operations Manual, a training program of 19 trainings was co-developed by the IRU and the SAIL team to specifically target the twelve steps of the streamlined approval process for SLTDA’s Preliminary Clearance and Final Approval with the Pre-Development Permit and Development Permit, and to build knowledge of the requirements of key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) from which the IRU facilitates clearances on behalf of the investor. Out of the 19 trainings, eight were implemented from December 2019 to December 2020. The training program was interrupted due to COVID-19 restrictions (between April to July and October to November 2020).
The trainings were implemented in parallel to the drafting of the IRU Operations Manual that systematically codifies IRU staffs’ tacit knowledge. During the trainings, the streamlined approval process and the new templates/forms/checklists and other supporting documents were introduced and tested for their practicality. This co-development during trainings was also designed to increase ownership by the IRU team of the streamlined process.
Due to COVID-19 related meeting restrictions, the first seven steps of the tourism investment approval process, up to the Preliminary Clearance, were completed, while the trainings covering the five steps of the Final Approval process, including the Pre-Development and Development Permit, could not be delivered. SLTDA IRU and TPD staff, however, have gained an overview of the entire approval process through two trainings that addressed the entire process (training #1 and #8). In training #8, the new tracking sheet with timeframes for IRU customer service delivery was introduced and reviewed. The SAIL team revised the tracking sheet after the training to incorporate the comments of IRU staff on the adequacy of the timing for some tasks. Apart from training #8 that was specifically for the IRU team, all other trainings included staff from the TPD and selected technical officers from other divisions.
13 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV The trainings were a combination of presentation and interactive sessions, including group work and role plays. The last training had to be done virtually. After some trainings, participants received homework on which they received feedback. The trainings were supported by SLTDA management, and the IRU has demonstrated a strong ownership in the coordination and organization of the internal trainings. The training feedback was consistently positive. Participants also gave constructive feedback on what to improve and made suggestions on what they would like to know more about.
Six out of eight trainings were video recorded for SLTDA’s use in the future. The Internal Training Reports and all training materials were shared with the IRU on its Google drive. There was a total of 143 training participants in eight trainings, of which 51 percent were male and 49 percent were female. 534 training person hours were provided (67 training person days) to further strengthen the capacities of SLTDA.
(2) External Trainings for key MDAs on selected steps of the streamlined tourism investment approval process The IRU works with 43 main MDAs. Approximately ten to fifteen MDAs are involved in the approval process of every tourism
External training with key MDAs, investment project. These MDAs were brought on board the March 2019 tourism investment approval process while co-developing the
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC Common Application and re-engineering the Preliminary Clearance process. The main training objective was to bring all MDAs together to work collaboratively on streamlining the tourism investment approval process by: (a) introducing the work undertaken by SLTDA IRU and facilitated by the Project since 2016, (b) understanding the streamlining that was done, and (c) learning the new Preliminary Clearance process and templates. The roll-out of the streamlined process was supposed to begin in the head offices of MDAs and then rolled out to the regional offices. The roll-out at the regional level had not taken place by the close of the project due to COVID-19 restrictions, which prevented regional meetings.
(2.1) External trainings for head office staff of key MDAs: Two trainings were held by SAIL and SLTDA in October 2018 and March 2019. SAIL and SLTDA had updated the training modules of the first external trainings to make them more focused on group training/activities and included case studies and exercises to promote group participation. The involvement of SLTDA staff in leading the group activities as part of the training was a great success and gave clear ownership of the reforms and workshop to SLTDA. Input from responding participants agreed that it was useful for them to interact with colleagues from other departments and agencies involved in the tourism investment approval process. They testified that the training helped them gain an understanding
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 14 of the work undertaken by SLTDA and facilitated by SAIL. All respondents agreed that they better understood the new Preliminary Clearance processes and templates, and they gained confidence in how to fill in the new templates, especially from the group activities.
The Training Report and all training materials were shared with the IRU on its Google drive. There was a total of 38 training participants in the two external trainings, of which 53 percent were male and 47 percent were female. 157 training person hours were provided (19.6 training person days) to strengthen the capacities of the main MDAs that the IRU works with in the tourism investment approval process (BOI, UDA, CEA, CC&CRMD, NBRO, Department of Irrigation, Department for Wildlife Conservation, CMC/Solid Waste Management Division, and Fire Services Department).
(2.2) External trainings for regional officers of key line agencies, divisional secretariats and local authorities: In 2020, when the streamlining of the process was further advanced and templates reviewed and fine-tuned, it was planned to roll out the process to the regions. The training objective was to bring regional officers of key line agencies, divisional secretariats, and local authorities to work together with SLTDA IRU in the streamlined tourism
investment approval process. IRU’s plan was to hold trainings for A virtual internal training, December 2020 these regional officers similar to the one held in March 2019 for officers from the head offices of various agencies. The IRU with the INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC support of the SAIL team began to prepare for these trainings. Initially, the trainings were to take place in Colombo, but due to the restrictions of COVID-19, the plan was changed to conduct the trainings in the regions themselves (Southern, Central, Western, and Northern locations). It was planned to familiarize the regional officers with: (a) the new Common Application, (b) the streamlined processes for the Joint Site Inspection and the SCMs, and (c) the relevant checklists and templates for the MDAs and the investor. For each event, region-specific case studies were prepared. The case studies were taken from existing project applications that met two criteria:
1. Located in environmentally sensitive areas; and
2. Requiring the involvement of a larger number of MDAs (8-10).
This was to ensure that regional officers could be actively involved in the group activities foreseen during the Regional Trainings. The regional trainings for officers of key MDAs could not be implemented as planned due to COVID-19 meeting restrictions. The IRU has plans to start them in February 2021.
15 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV DEVELOPING TOOLS FOR INVESTORS
Investor Handbook and Investor Presentations For investors, SAIL created an Investor Handbook, which is a comprehensive guide for tourism investors on the entire approval process and the resources available to them. The Handbook covers each stage of the approval process – from the initial preliminary clearance to final approval. The Handbook also contains other valuable resources and information for investors, such as investment incentives, immigration, and an overview of the regulatory environment affecting tourism investments.
SLTDA INVESTOR HANDBOOK / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
To address SLTDA concerns about the quality of tourist products proposed, the Handbook includes a section that discusses Sri Lanka’s notable architectural heritage and design inspirations/elements and provides suggestions for basic design considerations. The Handbook contains multiple templates to make it easier for investors to describe and present project proposals and calculate infrastructure needs.
As an additional tool, SAIL prepared a generic investor presentation that SLTDA can use and easily adjust for targeted presentations to investors.
Tourist Accommodation Design Guidelines
The project also drafted Design Guidelines for tourist accommodation projects. Design guidelines are a set of recommendations and good practices in design; they do not instruct designers on what to design, but how to use recognized best practice principles and minimum design standards. The Design Guidelines are intended to be a reference for those designing tourist accommodation facilities. They define and describe the tourist accommodation spaces needed by type, size, and specifications according to the existing regulations and international best practices.
The Guidelines will facilitate an understanding not only of the physical tourist accommodation spaces required, but also of the factors affecting their design and the quality of the environment to be achieved within and around the buildings. The Guidelines include development conditions, room-specific data for all types of tourist accommodation facilities, guest spaces such as ordinary guestroom and dining facilities, support spaces such as service and administrative areas, and external activity spaces such as playgrounds, sport areas, access, and parking. The Guidelines can be used for new facilities, as well as for extensions and renovations of existing facilities.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 16
SLTDA TOURISM ACCOMMODATION DESIGN GUIDELINES / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
A promotional flyer was also drafted with an overview of information contained in the Design Guidelines. The flyer can be shared with designers and investors to inform them about the existence and usefulness of the Guidelines, and to provide some of the minimum requirements for designing and building a tourist accommodation facility. Furthermore, investors can download the full Guideline through the QR code which is found on the back of the flyer.
Assessment of Hotel Classification System In response to a direct request from the SLTDA Chairperson to USAID, SAIL began supporting the country’s evaluation of its hotel classification system with the goal of making it more responsive to industry and customer needs. The project conducted and presented an analysis of the present system in comparison to international best practice standards and recommended a plan of action to create an improved framework.
A well drafted hotel classification system provides clarity to all tourism stakeholders, not just guests, across markets and accommodation types. As tourism markets develop in Sri Lanka and the diversity of stakeholders increases, it is important that accommodation providers present a unified front to simplify choices and harmonize the industry.
The Project also developed and rolled out an online survey to gather input from a broad range of tourism stakeholders in Sri Lanka, insights on how the current system works, and which components of the existing systems should be incorporated into a new consolidated system. The SAIL team tallied
17 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV survey results and provided a report to SLTDA. SLTDA can now use this information as it moves forward to redevelop its system and delve deeper into stakeholder input for reforms.
Protecting Tourism Investments in the Pandemic To help SLTDA formulate a response to the current crisis, SAIL drafted a White Paper “Proposal for a SLTDA response to protect and promote tourism investments during the COVID-19 crisis.” As a result, the IRU implemented steps to maintain communication with investors during the lockdown, resulting in an influx of applications from investors who have enough confidence in the Sri Lankan government to understand that the current crisis is an investment opportunity.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the GoSL closed all government agencies and the airport and suspended the issuance of tourist visas. In the short term, this had a negative effect on the number of working days required for an investment approval and, of course, the number of applications that SLTDA IRU received. As normalcy returns and the work of SAIL becomes embedded in more agencies, it is expected that the downward trend in processing time will continue and accelerate.
Online survey for Sri Lankan On the positive side, IRU continued to receive applications during Accommodoation Categories/Classification the pandemic which shows that there are investors who consider the current crisis as an investment opportunity. Some investors INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC believe if they invest now their projects will be ready to operate when tourism recovers.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Hettiarachchi, in a letter from September 29, 2020 to the SLTDA Chairperson, has commended the work accomplished by the IRU. The letter also makes a special mention of the SAIL Project:
“We are exceedingly satisfied with several significant improvements made to the private sector tourism investment facilitation mechanism with the technical support of the USAID SAIL Project. This will meet a long-standing need to encourage investors. We appreciate this collaborative effort and look forward to making the project approval process a success.”
And, in a recent letter dated January 12, 2021 to the USAID Mission Director, the SLTDA Chairperson said:
“We are pleased to convey our sincere appreciation for the remarkable contribution made by the USAID Project Supporting Accelerated Investment in Sri
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 18 Lanka (USAID-SAIL) for the business re-engineering process of the Investor Relations Unit of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).
With the above support, SLTDA could reduce the time taken for the approval process by 20% and despite the global pandemic, the total number of investment projects processed in 2020 was 54 with a total value of UD $879.94 Mn.”
SUPPORTING THE SRI LANKA TOURISM ALLIANCE The Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance is a private sector industry organization that was formed in the wake of the Easter Sunday Bombings in Sri Lanka. Like previous incidents in Paris, London, New York, Egypt, Christchurch, and Bali, the Easter attacks had an immediate and devastating impact on the tourism industry. International visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka initially dropped by 71 percent and the ongoing effect on the entire tourism industry supply chain was evident. Out of this tragedy, however, has emerged something positive. A group of like-minded Sri Lankan tourism business leaders joined together to form the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance.
From its inception, the Alliance’s common goal was to communicate that Sri Lanka is open for business with timely, relevant, and useful information. #lovesrilanka was launched with an online campaign, website, and related social feeds. The campaign provided up-to-date information for both the industry and potential visitors, and more critically filled a huge gap in information about the safety and security of tourists travelling to Sri Lanka, or in Sri Lanka at the time. The #lovesrilanka campaign was later recognized by Skift, a travel and tourism global expert company, for its service to the industry and lauded as an international best practice.
Since its launch, the Tourism Alliance has transformed itself into the second largest tourism industry association in Sri Lanka. The Alliance formed a high-level Advisory Group, and an Expert Group of Practitioners and Tourism Specialists to work together in a combined Crisis Management, Recovery, and Communications Trifecta. Harnessing support from the international donor community and private sector, locally and internationally, the Alliance was quick to organize and began to develop and distribute key messages in priority markets, pivot negative media coverage, and lobby for the relaxation of travel advisories.
In September 2019, the Alliance launched its Resilience Action Plan, bringing together the private sector towards a united and sustainable tourism development goal. Its vision is to build a resilient and strong private sector that embraces international sustainable tourism best practices, and where tourism benefits are driven to communities and people across Sri Lanka at every level.
Technical Assistance At the request of the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance and after discussion with USAID, SAIL has been providing technical assistance to the Tourism Alliance since May 2019. Specific assistance to the Alliance includes:
• Initial support to organize and support the inception stages of industry organization, formalization, and administrative support;
• Technical support to obtain funding;
19 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV • Leading the national consultation process with the assistance of an international tourism expert, and the formulation of the Resilience Action Plan; and
• Leading the launch of the plan, design, and conceptualization of Alliance initiatives based on the Resilience Action Plan.
SRI LANKA TOURISM ALLIANCE GRAPHICS / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
In June 2020, the Alliance formalized its commitment to the industry and was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee under Sri Lankan Law. According to Statutory requirements, the Alliance also secured the services of a Company Secretary and Auditor. The Co-Chairs of the Alliance also led the ratification of the Articles of Association, and two Co-Chairs, and Treasurer of the Board were elected in 2020. The leadership group meets on a quarterly basis and provides Strategic Advice and guidance from an industry perspective to the operational team. With the support of USAID and the Market Development Facility, the Alliance was able to resource their operational team with an Operations Director, an Industry Engagement Manager, and an international Strategic Tourism Advisor.
The Alliance membership has grown exponentially in 2020 driven by industry engagement and targeted initiatives aimed at increasing membership. The Alliance now has more than 1,460 members in total with a wide cross section of industry stakeholders/segments represented within the membership.
A total of six projects and 17 actions were formulated through design thinking workshops conducted with the industry in May 2019. The Resilience Action Plan is the blueprint for all activities undertaken by the Alliance.
After the initial safety messaging campaigns concluded, the Alliance developed lovesrilanka.org into a destination promotion website. The updates on safety and security of travelers continue to be the most engaging pages on the website and account for majority of the traffic. When the COVID-19 crisis emerged, the site and its ‘reopening updates’ section became the most visited pages on the site.
The lovesrilanka.org website has been supported by the Market Development Facility and has since also been the host to a microsite Love Sri Lanka Locals – an initiative launched by the Alliance once the first lockdown in Sri Lanka ended, to encourage the local market to travel. The microsite has performed
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 20 extremely well since its launch and housed hundreds of offers targeted at domestic tourists based on destinations and experiences.
LOVESRILANKA.ORG WEBSITE / SRI LANKA TOURISM ALLIANCE
Trade Focused Website (srilankatourismalliance.com) and Social Media In April 2020, the Alliance accelerated the launch of Sri Lanka’s first tourism trade focused website. Supported by USAID, this website is the premier online resource that is run for the tourism industry, by the industry. Custom-built for the Alliance, the website features a back end that enables the Alliance to manage its membership database electronically.
The News and Updates section of the website, which provides a curated feed of tourism news locally, and where relevant regionally and internationally are the most engaged pages on the site. It is inferred from the level of engagement that the Alliance has become a trusted voice for credible, accurate, and timely information. The site also features rich content news of the tourism industry, thought leadership pieces, and information about the Alliance’s ongoing projects.
Launched softly in the latter half of 2020, the Jobs Portal the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, lists tourism and hospitality jobs in Sri Lanka. Prior to the Easter attacks, skilled workforce was the largest pain point within the industry and this portal was conceptualized to fill this gap in the market.
As part of strategic engagement with the industry, the Alliance also ramped up industry engagement in 2020 by developing trilingual newsletters. The newsletters feature content that was curated for the industry by the industry, COVID-19 resources, Tools, Toolkits, and links to the Alliance site. In 2020, there was a growth of 300 percent in newspapers distributed compared to 2019. Engagement statistics show that 34 percent of the Newsletter recipients are highly engaged by the content.
COVID-19 Response In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Tourism Alliance was quick to develop a response which was quickly embraced by the industry. The focus was to provide timely, credible, and relevant information to the industry and bring international and local best practices and discussion to all tourism stakeholders. However, the Alliance was cognizant of its longer-term goals of sustainability, and the threats that the pandemic exacerbated. To this end, the Alliance launched a Grants Program to support the small and
21 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV medium enterprise (SME) sector and began to design a larger Sustainability in Tourism Project which will commit to the verticals of Conservation, Culture, Community and Commerce on every level particularly by engaging women and the tourism SME sector more inclusively. The Alliance is seeking funds to mobilize this project now and plans to roll it out in mid-2021.
SRILANKATOURISMALLIANCE.COM SWEBSITE / SRI LANKA TOURISM ALLIANCE
Resilience Webinar Series The Alliance launched the hugely successful Resilience Webinar Series in May 2020 during lockdown, featuring global and local industry experts including Google, TripAdvisor, and Twenty31. A total of six webinars have been watched for a total of 103,000 minutes and have been simulcast with local media and research partners such as Pulse, Advocata, Daily FT, and Economy Next.
Grants for Tourism Resilience In partnership with Good Life X and the Noah Foundation, the Alliance launched a competitive grants program focused on SMEs in Sri Lanka. Inviting them to submit applications committing to pivot their businesses to stay sustainable. A total of 328 applications were received, of which 31 were shortlisted for interviews. Applicants were judged on their commitments to sustainability through innovation, and their ability to bounce back. Ten finalists were chosen and received grants.
TRADE FACILITATION/POLICY
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES During Year 3, the project began implementing new activities aimed at supporting international trade liberalization. These new activities were agreed with both USAID and with the MODSIT during the last quarter of Year 2.
At the request of MODSIT, SAIL developed the implementation of monitoring mechanisms for trade agreements with a special emphasis on the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) and other existing bilateral agreements. A key aspect of this was the capacity building of selected MODSIT staff to enable them to conduct the monitoring of these agreements. Other deliverables included the
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 22 Review and Reform of Import-Export Control Law, Building compliance with the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA), and a review of current competition law.
TRADE FACILITATION/POLICY OUTCOMES • SAIL promoted the adoption of the WTO ITA and the Ministry of Finance is currently undertaking a revenue impact study, after which the government can take the important next step of full implementation.
• Extensive training carried out with the staff of MODSIT on the monitoring of free trade agreements increased their ability to enter into further trade agreements and open up the economy to future investment.
• More than 300 participants attended the public-private dialogues held in three districts (Colombo, Kandy, and Kurunegala) discussing trade and the impact on businesses in their districts.
MONITORING MECHANISMS ON TRADE AGREEMENTS The SAIL project developed three papers on “Salient Features of the Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement”, “Monitoring of the Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement”, and “Monitoring of Sri Lanka’s Regional and Bi-lateral Trading Arrangements.”
Based on these papers, a monitoring and compliance mechanism was developed within the Ministry to monitor the agreements already signed and their level of compliance. SAIL conducted training sessions for MODSIT staff on a wide range of topics involving trade agreements, monitoring mechanisms for FTAs, and monitoring of the Sri Lanka’s Regional and Bi-lateral Trading Arrangements.
Primary training was conducted on understanding trade agreements, the computation of border taxes including para-tariffs, and total tax incidences. Analyses were also conducted on export data in key markets under preferential terms or otherwise. Simulations on the revenue implications due to border tax reductions were also conducted by the project.
At the request of MODSIT, training was conducted for new officers from their newly established Trade and Productivity Commission on trade taxes, incentive structures, para-tariff reductions, and FTAs. SAIL also reviewed documents related to the Trade Adjustment Program (TAP), where the Secretariat of the Trade Productivity Commission within MODSIT was tasked to conduct an analysis and submit findings related to negative impacts to the industry due to reductions of Customs Import Duties and para-tariffs when implementing FTAs.
REVIEWINGTHE IMPORT-EXPORT CONTROL LAW The project worked on the review and reform of the import-export control laws as requested by MODSIT. SAIL developed a paper on “Next Steps Related to the Imports and Exports (Control) Act.” The project presented the findings to the Controller and her team and agreed on a training program on import/export control aspects with respect to trading arrangements of Sri Lanka. Training sessions were conducted including a special Saturday retreat program for the whole department which was well received.
23 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV BUILDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE WTO ITA The project also worked on building compliance with the WTO ITA and was engaged with the Department of Commerce on the subject. After consultations with the private sector, relevant government stakeholders including the Ministry of Finance, the request of the private sector was to proceed with the WTO ITA agreement which is beneficial to the IT industry and the country. At this meeting, the Ministry of Finance was requested to conduct Kandy PPD an analysis of the revenue implications of the duty reduction on IT imports.
SUPPORTING PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUES ON TRADE PPDs on trade were organized by SAIL, and they were very well received by stakeholders and generated a new level of awareness on the subject of trade. The success of the events prompted a request from MODSIT for PPDs to be held in every district of the
country. The PPD events generated vibrant discussions The first PPD on “Integrating into Global Trade – How can Sri Lanka Maximize Benefits and Minimize Risks” was held in Colombo (in June 2019) with over 70 participants, including government officials from key ministries/agencies, chambers, the private sector, and the civil society.
The PPDs then moved out of Colombo and the second event was held in Kandy, a district who is a key player in the country’s trading economy. The event in Kandy (in August 2019) was themed “Kandy in the Global economy - How can the District Maximize Benefits and minimize Risks” and was held with the support of the Export Development Board (EDB) office in Kandy and MODSIT. There were over 120 participants at this event.
The third PPD was held in Kurunegala (September 2019) under the same theme “Kurunegala in the Global Economy – How can the District Maximize Benefits and minimize Risks” once again in collaboration with the EDB office in Kurunegala and MODSIT. This event attracted 110 participants.
The dialogues were well received by stakeholders in all three Districts (Colombo, Kandy, and Kurunegala) who welcomed the Newspaper coverage of modsit and sail PPD Event initiative and the opportunity to interact first-hand with key officials and seek clarifications on some of the pressing issues impacting INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC their businesses in their region.
In total, more than 300 participants from Ministries, government agencies, the business community, trade chambers, the private sector, and representatives of other key stakeholders spent a whole day engaged in discussions, sharing experiences, and gaining new knowledge at these three events. The resource persons at the
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 24 events included staff from the Ministries and allied departments and agencies including Department of Commerce, Inland Revenue Department, Customs, Registrar-General’s office, BOI, EDB, Import and Export Control Department.
LABOR LAW REFORM
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
LABOR LAW REFORM OUTCOMES • SAIL produced four drafts of the labor law, now titled ‘Unified Terms and Conditions of Employment Act’, incorporating feedback from various stakeholders through PPDs and workshops.
• The draft labor law meets the immediate needs of the GoSL and replaces a fragmented legal regime of many laws with a single law on employment, prioritizing issues of gender and protecting rights of workers while allowing employers flexibility appropriate in the modern workplace.
• 7 public-private dialogues were conducted and opened the doors for public discussions and laid out the outreach and communication strategy for MOLTUR to ensure acceptance of the new law.
• A framework for implementing rules and regulations was presented to the GoSL to initiate the preparatory works for enacting the new law once the draft labor law is finalized.
Reforming labor law reform has been a priority and challenge in Sri Lanka for several decades. Both employer and employee representatives have repeatedly expressed the need to revise and update the existing labor regulation. At MODSIT’s direction, SAIL began working directly with MOLTUR on issues relating to labor reform. With the Government agreeing that reform is necessary, the SAIL team was able to facilitate the preparation of a draft law.
Two areas of importance were highlighted in revising labor. Firstly, the draft seeks to replace a fragmented legal regime of many laws with a single law on employment. This emphasized revising the entire labor law structure as opposed to only a fraction of labor laws. Secondly, the current reform prioritizes issues of gender, including seeking an increase in labor force participation by women.
ASSESSING EXISTING LABOR LAWS AND STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS From initial project discussions, labor issues were identified by stakeholders as a major impediment to FDI. In the first year of the project, the SAIL team assessed existing labor laws and found a number of tangible issues to concentrate reform efforts on: 1) fragmentation of laws and requirements (44 Wage and Hour Boards); 2) inflexible rules; 3) disputes about third party contracting (manpower agencies); 4) high termination costs and procedures; 5) other costs such as gratuity; 6) no prohibition against any form of discrimination, especially as to gender; and 7) high enforcement costs and delays.
After the assessment was presented to the Ministers of MODSIT and MOLTUR, the two Ministers agreed that the reform process must move forward. It was decided that the SAIL project would work
25 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV directly with the lead Ministry, MOLTUR, to support a Working Group comprised of MOLTUR representatives and stakeholders.
In addition to meeting with the Ministers, the SAIL team also reached out to other stakeholders to gauge support for labor reform. As an example, members of the team attended the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017, organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the Summit, significant presentations by the Head of the Central Bank, Ministers, and private sector leaders included many references to the need for comprehensive labor reform.
The SAIL team simultaneously laid the groundwork for public discussions of labor law reform by recruiting a Sri Lankan multi-disciplinary think tank, Verité Research, to assist with the public-private dialogues that would be used to present the proposed reforms. The SAIL team and experts from Verité Research discussed appropriate steps for public communications, such as social media articles, on specific elements of labor reform. There were eventually several public meetings held around the reform, but the social media campaign was put on hold due to the impending elections and on instruction from the CGL.
FACILITATING PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUES To help stakeholders identify issues of concern and to help them become more familiar with the proposed labor reform, SAIL hosted PPDs. SAIL and subcontractor, Verité Research, provided support facilitating and organizing the events covering a wide range of thematic issues including women and employment, informal sector workers, and ethical outsourcing. The PPDs built on the Cabinet decision of June 2018 to unify four laws and SAIL supported eight PPDs as summarized in Table 2 below.
TABLE 2: PPDS ON LABOUR
DATE LOCATION THEMATIC AREA
Women and employment – discrimination, harassment in the workplace, March 26, 2018 Galle restrictions, part time work The needs of informal sector workers – precarious employment and low April 26, 2018 Batticaloa wages without benefits April 27, 2018 Trincomalee How to make outsourcing (manpower agencies) fair to workers Women and employment - discrimination, harassment in the workplace, May 10, 2018 Jaffna restrictions, part time work. The needs of the informal sector, and how should the minimum wage be May 11, 2018 Anuradhapura determined July 30. 2018 Kandy Plantation sector workers August 13, 2018 Colombo Problems in collective bargaining October 12, 2018 Colombo Approach to unifying labor laws and outline of a unified law
At the final PPD, SAIL presented an approach to unifying labor laws and provided an outline of a unified law that had been prepared by SAIL. There was a panel discussion of the presentation made to 71 participants, from trade unions, employers, and the Ministry, concluding that labor laws needed to be unified and modernized ensuring consistent treatment of employees in all sectors. A number of policy proposals were made in the course of the PPDs, including:
• All labor law issues should be addressed in a single comprehensive law instead of maintaining separate laws for industrial, office, female, and agricultural workers; combine and amend existing laws. • The Law should clearly define the rights and obligations of employers/employees.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 26 • Employment law must protect rights of workers and include anti-discrimination provisions, while allowing employers flexibility appropriate in the modern workplace. • Laws should not discriminate in service conditions based on place of work and occupation; all workers are entitled to the same conditions; leave, overtime, and working hours to be uniform. • Labor law should be based on setting rules, rather than on seeking approvals from the Labor Commissioner. • Resources of the Department of Labor (DOL) are limited and the inspection of large numbers of manpower agencies, use of casual labor, and other vulnerable conditions is not possible due to the sheer numbers. • The complexity of existing laws makes it more likely that employers will evade regulations where possible, so anything that results in a less complex law is to be welcomed.
JAFFNA PPD PARTCIPANTS / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
PREPARING LABOR LAW DRAFTS
First Labor Law Draft In 2018, MOLTUR received Cabinet approval to move forward with a unified labor law. The Cabinet determined that four laws (Shop and Office Act, Wages Boards Ordinance, Employment of Women, Children and Young Persons Act, and Maternity Ordinance) should be unified in addition to reviewing other laws. The Cabinet paper highlighted the need to address the low labor force participation of women and the need for flexible service conditions in the new technology-based economy. Furthermore, the Cabinet paper noted: “It must also be stressed that the drafting of a new act incorporating flexible service conditions should be without prejudice to the rights currently enjoyed by workers.”
At the request of the CGL, the SAIL project drafted a unified Employment Act under the direction of Justice R.K.S. Suresh Chandra, a consultant for SAIL who is a retired Supreme Court judge and an experienced labor law practitioner.
Working with the legal department of MOLTUR, SAIL conducted drafting workshops and provided technical revisions to the Act. The SAIL team presented the first draft of the Employment and Service Contracting Rights Act to the Ministry of Labor. The draft was accompanied by a presentation on the draft Act led by Lena Zezulin and on the implications for the DOL led by Shyamali Ranaraja. There were over 20 people in attendance. The draft contained the following general points:
27 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV • Statement of general principles including the prohibition of discrimination; • Definitions of different forms of employment contracts, including defining fixed term contracts and casual labor; • Flexibility in overtime provisions and in the scheduling of work, applicable to all places of work, replacing the onerous and fragmented Wage Board regime; • Recordkeeping obligations of employers; • Annual leave and holidays (which is also currently fragmented under different Wage Boards); • Maternity leave; • Procedures for termination of employment; • Reduction in Termination of Employment of Workmen Act (TEWA) benefits; • Reduction in Gratuity Act Benefits; • Service contract hiring (Manpower agencies); • Employment Agencies (who place workers with employers); • Employment of children and young persons; and • Administration, grievances and enforcement through Labor Courts.
JAFFNA PPD PARTCIPANTS / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
At the beginning of 2019 second quarter, further discussions were arranged with MOLTUR. All of the reports on the discussions, the comments, and the proposed revisions were compiled into a revised draft and submitted to MOLTUR. The principal policy changes in the revised version of the first draft were:
• Enforcement provisions creating Labor Courts were to be removed and Labor Tribunals will be referred to instead as this was not part of the Cabinet Resolution on unifying the labor law; and • Reduction in the cost of TEWA and Gratuity would be contentious and is not in the Cabinet Resolution and was also removed.
The draft retained the principal architecture: unifying labor provisions and introducing some flexibility, such as permitting and defining part-time hours, flexible hours, and overtime, consistent with the needs of a modern knowledge economy. The draft also streamlined compliance mechanisms for employers. The draft would also eliminate outdated restrictions on women working and prohibit gender discrimination, including sexual harassment as a form of discrimination.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 28 The Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 resulted in postponements in many areas of work including labor reform. Despite these challenges, the SAIL team further revised the draft with MOLTUR. At the request of the CGL, SAIL prepared a presentation for the CGL to provide to the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC). On June 27, 2019, approximately 300 people attended the EFC Forum on the topic “A Unified Employment Law.” The CGL was the keynote speaker. Discussions centered on contracts, overtime, compressed time, holidays, outsourcing, maternity benefits, executive pay, retirement age, and even pensions.
Second Labor Law Draft After the extensive discussions within the working group, a second draft was presented on July 6, 2019. The draft aimed to retain important protections for employees in the current law and to provide flexibility consistent with the needs of a modern economy to support business growth, increased formal employment, and the needs of women.
Taking inspiration from Canada and South Africa, where average work-day lengths and compressed work schedules have been introduced, employers have been seeking more flexibility to deviate from the rigid 8-hour day and 45-hour work week. The revised draft builds on the Cabinet’s decision to unify four laws and includes the following components among others:
• Fundamental rights of workers and anti-discrimination provisions, including defining sexual harassment as a form of gender discrimination; • Elimination of night work restrictions for women; • Requirements for employment contracts, allowing flexibility to have a variety of contracts, such as part-time, fixed-term, and casual contracts appropriate in the modern workplace; • Service contract hiring; • Recordkeeping, wage payment rules, and workplace rules; • Elimination of Wages Boards with fragmented workplace rules; • Unifying conditions of leave, overtime, and holidays across occupations; • Possibility of flexibility in overtime, allowing for averaging and compressed work weeks; and • Regulation of “manpower agencies” and employment agencies.
An important milestone was reached July 9, 2019, when the draft Employment Act was presented to the NLAC. The NLAC is a tripartite body composed of employers, unions, and government representatives, following International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 144 on Tripartite Consultation. In response to the Ministry’s request, SAIL prepared unofficial translations into Sinhala and Tamil.
The project received feedback from unions and gender-focused civil society organizations. Solidarity Center’s attorney in Washington, D.C. and the Ceylon Mercantile, Industry and General Workers Union (CMU) provided comments to the draft law. Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya submitted separate comments, primarily with respect to manpower agencies and trade unions provided comments on the draft, the unification of four laws, and the involvement of USAID.
Third Labor Law Draft The second draft delivered was significantly revised to reflect feedback and annotated extensively to show how each comment was addressed. A third draft was provided on February 25, 2020. SAIL continued to meet with the MOLTUR legal team and received important comments on many provisions, especially relating to enforcement. Some of the differences between the second and the third draft were:
29 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV • The title of the draft was changed to ‘Terms and Conditions of Employment Act’; • Addressing concerns about employment through Manpower Supply Agencies, the draft clarifies the definition, responsibilities, and protections of Manpower Supply Agencies; • Further elaborated the Employer’s responsibility for preventing sexual harassment through the adoption and implementation of Workplace Standards; • Added definition of equal pay for equal work, and a prohibition against discrimination in recruitment and termination; • To prevent confusion, the term ‘Workplace Rules’ was changed to ‘Workplace Standards’; • Text revised for many provisions including: 1) clarification that Casual Work is not an Employment Contract; 2) clarification that no probation should be imposed if an Employee is hired for the same job or work by the same Employer; 3) explanation added clarifying that performance-based remuneration is not obligatory but a choice for Employers and Employees; and 4) clarification that no Employee may be required to work more than 12 hours a day, “around the clock”. • Addressing comments that overtime payments should be calculated at two or three times the Basic Wage for certain days, the Act was revised to calculate overtime payments at one and a half times of the Basic Wage to maintain parity for all sectors and ease of administration for the Labour Department; • Edited to remove doubt that the Employee can be compelled to work a Compressed Work week or Averaging unless these alternatives are agreed upon by Employers and Employees and to reduce the amount of overtime for Employees working a Compressed Work Week; • Employees in trades such as hospitality may be required to be traveling for a number of weeks; • Revised to indicate all weekly leaves as unpaid in order not to disadvantage the hiring of part-time Employees; • Removed the alternate day of leave for the Public Holiday provision; • Addressed recommendations from the ILO by: 1) requiring individual recordkeeping for each Employee, and 2) removing 45 hour per week work requirement for maternity leave to assure that part-time Employees likewise receive maternity leave and instead clarifying the need for pro-rata payment of maternity leave for part-time Employees; • Revised the requirement of creches based on the number of all Employees, not just female Employees, for children under the age six; and • Clarified the text to prohibit employment of children “except in accordance with this Act”.
MEETING HOSTED BY MINISTER OF LABOUR WITH SAIL, MODSIT, AND USAID TEAMS / INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 30 Fourth Labor Law Draft SAIL delivered a Fourth Draft of the unified Terms and Conditions of Employment Act to MOLTUR on May 27, 2020. The principal changes made to the fourth draft were on enforcement and with several provisions allowing for cessation of work due to emergencies.
In 2020, SAIL also closely followed the challenges faced by the labor sector in Sri Lanka due to COVID- 19. Many provisions requested by employers as COVID -19 relief, are contained in the unified Terms and Conditions of Employment Act. MOLTUR asked SAIL to review the report "COVID-19 & Beyond: The Impact on the Labor Market of Sri Lanka" to identify legal reform initiatives that can be pursued to further the report's findings after the 2020 General election. Their report was based on a survey of employers and contained a number of far-reaching requests including the following short-term recommendations:
1. Retaining employment, with reductions in salary to address periods of non-work, while maintaining Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) contributions; 2. Making pro-rata payments to workers according to the number of hours worked; 3. Granting loans to businesses at lower rates; and 4. Allowing employers to recover lost paid hours without work through agreement with Trade Unions or other relevant parties.
Long-term recommendations included:
1. Comprehensive social security scheme, including unemployment insurance, including re-skilling, re- employment and up-skilling; 2. Creation of health and education hubs in Sri Lanka; 3. Strengthening social dialogue at sector and enterprise level; and 4. Modernizing and diversifying agriculture, fisheries, apparel, textile, and tourism sectors.
SAIL provided its assessment to MOLTUR noting that these recommendations are far-reaching and broad, requiring not only the adoption of a unified Terms and Conditions of Employment Act, but review of other significant labor laws to modernize laws in response to the changes in the economy.
INCORPORATING GENDER IN TO LABOR LAW REFORM One issue the government aimed to address was low female labor force participation. Female unemployment is higher than that of males at all levels of education. In 2016, female labor force participation was approximately 36 percent compared to 75 percent for males. Women accounted for approximately 75 percent of the country’s economically inactive population in 2017. Unemployment stood at 4.1 percent in 2017: at 2.7 percent for males compared to 6.5 percent for females.
Overt gender discrimination in employment is common in Sri Lanka. Some collective bargaining agreements in the agricultural sector have explicitly different compensation rates for women and men. This is not prohibited by the Sri Lankan Constitution, which only prohibits gender discrimination in the public sector, leaving private sector discrimination is legal. This is a major variance from Sri Lanka’s commitments to the ILO and the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) and Sri Lanka has
31 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV promised to rectify the matter1. Addressing this discrimination will take a long time but prohibiting it by law is a necessary first step.
Solutions to these issues were presented through the draft via the introduction of flexible workplace arrangements, such as providing for part-time work and varying work schedules. Another significant aspect of the draft law is the introduction, Panel discussion at the forum on gender for the first time, of an express prohibition against sex INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC discrimination in private sector employment.
The draft law also included prohibitions against discrimination (gender and other characteristics) which remain absent in the current employment law. Sexual harassment is also covered as a form of discrimination. The draft law also abolishes the restrictions on night work for women. It is noteworthy that these restrictions are currently contained is the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act. This represents an antiquated and paternalistic approach toward women, exemplified by the inclusion of protective features for night work by women along with rules on child labor, without, however, prohibiting discrimination. The Act is also outdated as to the appropriate age designations of children and young persons.
A stakeholder consultation on the gender implications of the draft act on employment was held on July 18, 2019. The event was attended by 41 participants representing a range of civil society organizations, Human Rights Council, academia, research centers, think tanks and women’s action groups. MOLTUR and International Labor Law Expert, Shyamali Ranaraja, made presentations and generated a vibrant debate. Attendees welcomed the proposed changes to the labor law and highly appreciated the fact that gender issues had been incorporated.
DEVELOPING A LABOR REFORM COMMUNICATION STRATEGY To promote the labor reform policies, a strategic communication effort was initiated. The CGL communicated reform to the press, with the goals of simplification, clarification, and increased female employment. At an ILO Future of Work event, the CGL mentioned the single new labor law during the event. In addition, there have also been articles on the needs of women workers, such as the Moms do
1 GSP+ was withdrawn from Sri Lanka over several issues, including union activity and gender. It was restored in 2017 and conditions are subject to monitoring. See the EU Commission staff working document, January 11, 2017. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/january/tradoc_155236.pdf.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 32 Digital article. It is currently very difficult to have an active champion for reform until there is a draft that is available for public review. Once the draft is available for public review, MOLTUR and the EFC could further lead the process as champions for reform.
CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITIES - COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH Recognizing the value of communications and outreach, SAIL was careful to place a special emphasis on this aspect of the work, showcasing the work of the project and increasing the knowledge and awareness of our diverse stakeholders to further the project’s goals. Having a specialized communications unit within the project benefited all components which had the constant support of the communications team to showcase their efforts and add value to them through a range of communication tools.
Accordingly, the communications team developed, adapted, and refined content and messaging that was used for project communications to serve the needs of diverse audiences including USAID, project partners, the GoSL, ministries and state agencies, the private sector, investors, and associations.
The team developed a strategic outreach agenda to support PPDs and advocacy using a range of communications methods including print, advertising, social media, and community engagement, as appropriate. The team also supported government counterparts and other stakeholders to develop and implement program outreach and awareness raising activities. The SAIL project was the only USAID project which regularly published a quarterly newsletter featuring the work accomplished during the period and including a success story with every edition.
COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH OUTCOMES • With SAIL’s support, the MODSIT quarterly newsletter was launched, a milestone for the Ministry and shared overseas to all Sri Lankan missions, becoming an integral part of their messaging.
• SAIL successfully used large scale public-private dialogues to promote both labor reform and trade and utilized print media to reach millions of Sri Lankan households highlighting not only MOLTUR and MODSIT but also USAID and its commitment to supporting Sri Lanka on its path to self-reliance.
SUPPORTING A MODSIT COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY In one of the project’s early interactions with MODSIT, the Minister had requested SAIL to develop a communications strategy to increase both internal and external communications, build public awareness and wider appreciation of its work in improving the investment climate, and gain vital public support for reforms. The SAIL team developed a comprehensive communications strategy in close collaboration with key stakeholders from various departments and agencies including the BOI and EDB to and ensured that the Communication Strategy was aligned with the priorities across different departments and agencies.
The Communications Strategy was used as the blueprint for MODSIT to determine how to effectively communicate with all internal and external stakeholders impacted by its programs. It also provided important communications tools that can support the implementation of the Ministry’s Vision, Mission and Strategic Objectives.
33 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV CAPACITY BUILDING FOR COMMUNICATION Following the development of the communications strategy, the SAIL team launched a number of communication capacity building programs including trainings on effective communications. These pilot initial training programs were very well received, and SAIL was requested to expand the training to all MODSIT staff including the senior management. Building on this success, SAIL was then requested to conduct capacity building programs for other soft SAIL presents the Communications Strategy to MODSIT skills including communication and business etiquette, conducting meetings, the art of minute taking, and presentation skills.
The Ministry also made it mandatory for all its new recruits to follow the training programs to enhance their knowledge and skill sets. Based on this initiative, SAIL developed a training curriculum of six modules to be completed by all recruits and awarded certificates to those candidates who completed the course.
The SAIL project was also requested to assist the ministry in Communications training session in progress conducting an outbound team-building training program for its entire staff. The two-day event was hailed as one of the best-ever training programs at the ministry and in a letter from the Secretary MODSIT, SAIL was commended for its lead role organizing the event.
“I would sincerely extend my heart-felt gratitude
for the support you have provided to our Capacity Building Program held on 12th to 13th Communications training participants July 2019 at Laya Leisure – Kukuleganga…
This event would not have been a success without the generous support you have provided to us throughout. On behalf of the Hon. Minister and the staff of the MODSIT, I highly appreciate your
commitment in making this event a success. I
Communications training launch sincerely hope that this collaboration will be
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC maintained and that you will continue to support us in our future endeavours.”
Secretary of MODSIT
ASSISTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MODSIT QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER One of the direct outcomes of the communications strategy and the training programs was the development and publishing of the first ever MODSIT Newsletter which was a ground-breaking event
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 34 and helped showcase the work of the ministry both locally and overseas.
The newsletter consisted of eight full color pages of news and pictures of the work of the ministry and was available in all three languages – English, Sinhala, and Tamil. The electronic versions of the newsletters were featured on the MODSIT website and distributed via email to all Sri Lankan embassies and trade commission offices overseas. Additionally, several thousand hard copies were printed for distribution locally and at all events and trade fairs. In one instance, over 50,000 copies of the newsletters were printed for distribution at two regional trade fairs in the country. The newsletter continued to be published regularly and was well received until the closure of the MODSIT ministry in November 2019.
“Welcome to the first issue of MODSIT NEWS - the MODSIT Quarterly Newsletter newsletter of the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade. The newsletter serves a long-felt need of the Ministry to increase awareness of its work among all its stakeholders and the general public.
I wish to congratulate all those involved in this publication and I extend a special word of thanks to the SAIL team for their support and guidance”
Minister Malik Samarawickrema in a special message to mark the first publication
DEVELOPING COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS FOR MODSIT As the capacity building programs continued, the SAIL project Featured article on SLSFTA developed a range of communication tools for the use of MODSIT including factsheets, brochures, news articles, and press releases. The communications team also helped compile articles which were translated into Sinhala and Tamil and published in the local newspapers. A special feature article on the SLSFTA, developed jointly by MODSIT and SAIL teams, received wide publicity in all the local newspapers reaching over one million households and four million readers across the country.
SUPPORTING MEDIA OUTREACH – NEW INDUSTRY BENCHMARKS FOR PRINT COVERAGE The PPDs on trade enabled the SAIL project to utilize its outreach
Newspaper coerage of SAIL actvities capabilities to the fullest extent. The Communications team developed media releases which were translated into Sinhala and INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC
35 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV Tamil and disseminated to all print media and published prominently in full color in all the mainstream newspapers setting a new benchmark for media coverage and showcasing the work of SAIL in Sri Lanka. In total, the outreach encompassed over one million households with an overall readership of three million individuals.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE USAID ASSISTANCE Much was achieved during the SAIL project; labor is now at the front and center of the government’s reform efforts. The tourism investment process has been vastly improved and more importantly the message that Sri Lanka needs to improve in order to compete regionally is widely accepted.
INVESTMENT FACILITATION The SLTDA IRU is a different organization now than the one SAIL engaged with four years ago; they are on a steady reform path. Full automation, as well as addressing different staffing issues will be key milestones for SLTDA, and they will need help to achieve these goals. Expanding the streamlining of processes to other agencies will be an uphill battle, but the example of SLTDA will inspire the government to take the next steps.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance requires further assistance with the day-to-day operations of their programming including implementation of their Resilience Action Plan. The work entails capacity building and core institutional strengthening activities aimed at growing the membership, strategic communications, building platforms, partnerships and initiatives aimed at including all stakeholders in the industry. Future USAID projects could support the Alliance on its ‘sustainability project’, which is aimed at increasing female participation in tourism and supporting SMEs in the tourism sector to recover their businesses.
LABOR LAW REFORM The fourth draft of the Unified Terms and Conditions of Employment Act needs to be reviewed by the drafting team at MOLTUR. After review by the new Ministry leadership, the next steps for the draft would be presentation to the NLAC. The draft will then need to be communicated to the public, followed by the initiation of preparatory work on implementing regulations. SAIL has taken steps to support the preliminary development of regulations, but this will need to be addressed comprehensively once the draft is finalized.
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 36 ANNEX I: INDICATOR SUMMARY TABLE
TABLE 1: INDICATOR SUMMARY TABLE FY17 FY 17 FY18 FY18 FY19 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY 21 FY 21 LOP LOP Outcome Indicator Type Notes Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Sub-purpose 1: Improved/reformed legislative and regulatory environment that will address current constraints to FDI attraction and retention Indicator 1.1 Number of Drafted 3 2 3 6 3 6 2 6 0 0 11 20 business environment Stakeholder 2 0 2 6 3 6 3 5 1 1 11 18 laws, regulations, or Review administrative Legislative 0 2 3 3 2 0 3 0 1 0 9 5 procedures drafted (D), Approved 0 0 1 3 2 4 2 2 1 1 6 10 submitted for public/stakeholder consultation (S), submitted for legislative consideration (L), or Total 5 4 9 18 10 16 10 13 3 2 37 53 passed/approved (A) as a result of USG Outcome 1.1 assistance Reformed, modified, Indicator or developed added in laws, regulations, or Indicator 1.2 Number of year 3. Year administrative public-private dialogues N/A N/A 7 7 10 5 4 0 2 0 23 12 2 targets are procedures are conducted actuals for implemented the year. Drafted N/A N/A N/A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Indicator Indicator 1.3 Number of Proposed N/A N/A N/A 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 added in FY legal instruments 19. The drafted, proposed or labor law adopted with USG was drafted assistance designed to but not promote gender equality Adopted N/A N/A N/A 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 adopted due or non-discrimination to frequent against women or girls changes in at the national or sub- government national level and the
37 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV TABLE 1: INDICATOR SUMMARY TABLE FY17 FY 17 FY18 FY18 FY19 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY 21 FY 21 LOP LOP Outcome Indicator Type Notes Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual COVID-19 pandemic. Final result is Number of days based on required for investment data from 52 N/A 54.5 54.5 39.5 30 38 25 31.5 25 31.5 25 31.5 approval processes (PC- processed Outcome 1.2: Preliminary Clearance) applications Procedures in 2020. impacting investment The sample related processes size was Number of days are streamlined small required for investment N/A 49 N/A 50 40 41 30 42 30 42 30 42 (complete approval processes (DP- data only Development Permit) avail. for 5 applications) Sub-purpose 2: Strengthened institutional capacity of BOI or AfD or other GSL to function effectively as investment promotion agency and a one stop shop for FDI entry into Sri Lanka Outcome 2.1: GSL Female 59 219.5 699 294.5 10 1282 Indicator 2.1 Person 100 300 400 350 150 1300 staff’s capacity to Male 85 92.5 383.75 301 2.5 864.75 hours of training implement reforms completed in business that improve the enabling environment investment Total 100 144 300 312 400 1082.75 350 595.5 150 12.5 1300 2146.75 supported by USG promotion functions assistance is strengthened New 2 2 2 1 2 6 1 0 0 6 The total Indicator 2.2 Number of reflects only Outcome 2.2: institutions/organizations new Institutions are (public and private) 7 15 organizations equipped to receiving capacity Continue 0 0 2 2 3 3 4 10 2 8 supported in implement reforms development support total across through USG assistance the LOP
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 38 ANNEX II: TECHNICAL REPORTS
TABLE 2: TECHNICAL REPORTS
REPORT TITLE DATE DEC LINK Roadmap and Action Plan for 4/4/2017 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDQS.pdf Streaming of Investment Approvals Review of Select Provisions of the 8/1/2017 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDQT.pdf Labor Code of Sri Lanka Proposal for Streamlined Tourism Pre- 8/9/2017 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDQW.pdf Approval Process under SLTDA OSU Assessment of the Caseflow Process in the Commercial High Court of 3/29/2018 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDQX.pdf Colombo Monitoring of the Sri Lanka-Singapore 2/28/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDR1.pdf Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) Next Steps Related to Revision of the Imports and Exports (Control) 2/28/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDR3.pdf Act - A Summary Salient Features of the Singapore Free 2/28/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDR6.pdf Trade Agreement(SLSFTA) Labor Law Reform Communication 6/23/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDR8.pdf Strategy Marketing Tourism and Post-Recovery 6/28/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDR9.pdf Suggestions to Improve MODSIT’s 6/28/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDRC.pdf Website USAID MODSIT Communication 7/1/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDRD.pdf Strategy Hotel Classification - Initial Research 5/1/2020 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDRF.pdf WTO Information Technology 5/1/2020 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDRH.pdf Agreement and Sri Lanka Issues with the current implementation of FTA's, possible 5/20/2020 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XDRJ.pdf solutions and next steps Design Guidelines for investors 1/23/2021 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCHD.pdf White Paper, Tourism investment and 4/14/2020 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCHF.pdf the pandemic Competition Law Review and 10/10/2019 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCH2.pdf Recommendations Investor presentation 1/15/2021 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCH8.pdf Investor Handbook 1/23/2021 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCH5.pdf Common Application Form for 11/1/2020 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCH7.pdf Investment SLTDA Overall Process Roadmaps 1/23/2021 https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XCHC.pdf
39 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV ANNEX III: LIST OF ALL HOST COUNTRY, INTERNATIONAL DONOR, AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CONTACTS
TABLE 3: LIST OF ALL HOST COUNTRY, INTERNATIONAL DONOR, AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CONTACTS
TYPE ORGANIZATION POSITION: NAME Minister: Malik Samarawickrama (2016-2019) Ministry of Development Secretary: Chandanie Wijayawardhana (2016-2018) Strategies and International Secretary: Sisira Kodikara (2019-2020) Trade (Line Ministry for SAIL Addtnl Secretary: W.A.D. S. Gunasinghe (2016-2020) 2016-2019) Director: Anuradha Tillakarathna (2016-2020) Minister: John Seneviratne (2016-2018) Minister: Ravindra Samaraweera (2018-2019) Ministry of Labour and Trade Minister: Nimal Siripala de Silva (2020-2021) Union Relations (Collaborating Secretary: S. A. Saranatissa (2016-2019) Ministry 2017-2020) Secretary: M.U.K. Mapa Pathirana (2020-2021) Senior Asst Secretary: B. Vasanthan (2017-2021) Commissioner General of Labour: Ananda Wimalaweera (2017-2020) Ministry of Tourism Minister: John Amaratunga (2016-2019) (Collaborating Ministry 2017- 2019, Line Ministry for SAIL Minister: Prasanna Ranatunga (2019-2021) Ministries 2020-2021) Secretary: S Hettiarachchi (2016-2021) SLTDA Chair: Kavan Ratnayake (2017-2018) SLTDA Chair: Johann Jayaratne (2018-2019) Sri Lanka Tourism Development SLTDA Chair: Kishu Gomes (2019) Authority (SLTDA) SLTDA Chair: Kimarli Fernando (2020-2021) Directors: Upali Ratnayake (2017-2020) Directors: Bhagya Mahavithanage (2017-2021) Ministry of Justice Minister: Thalatha Atukorale (2017-2019) (Collaborating Ministry – Enforcing Contracts 2018-2019) Secretary: Mangalika Adikari (2018-2019) Minister: Ravi Karunanayake (2017-18) Ministry of Finance Minister: Mahinda Rajapakse (2019-2021) (coordination, admin) Deputy Secretary to the Treasury: S.R. Attygalle (2016-2021) Advisor - Finance Ministry: Mano Tittawella (2017-2019) External Resources Department Director: D.A. P. Abeysinghe (2017-2021) (ERD) Asst Director: Ranga Nishantha (2017-2021) Chairman: Upul Jayasuriya (2017) Chairman: Dumindra Ratnayake (2017-2018) Chairman: Mangala Yapa (2018-2019) Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman: Susantha Ratnayake (2020) Director-General: Duminda Ariyasinghe (2016-2018) Director-General: Champika Malalgoda (2019-2020) Chairperson: Indira Malwatte (2017-2019) Export Development Board Chairperson: Prabash Subasinghe (2020-2021) Government (EDB) (Trade facilitation) Director-General: Jeevanee Seneviratne (2017-2020) department/ agencies Department of Import and Export Control (Trade Controller-General: Damayanthi Karunaratne (2019-2021) facilitation) Department of Commerce Director-General: Sonali Wijeratne (2016-2019) (Trade facilitation) Director-General: Nimal Karunatilleka (2019-2021) Registrar-General’s Department Registrar-General: D. N. Siriwardena (2016-2019) (Trade facilitation) Registrar-General: K.G. Dharmatilleka (2019-2021) Department of Customs (Trade Director-General: Sunil Jayarathne (2018-2020) facilitation)
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 40 TABLE 3: LIST OF ALL HOST COUNTRY, INTERNATIONAL DONOR, AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CONTACTS
TYPE ORGANIZATION POSITION: NAME Consumer Affairs Authority (Trade facilitation, competition Chairman: Dr Lalith Senaweera (2019-2020) law) Auditor-General’s Department Auditor-General: Gamini Wijesinghe (2016-2019) Central Environmental Chairman: Siripala Amerasinghe (2019-2021) Authority (streamlining Director-General: Hemantha Jayasinghe (2019-2021) investment approval process) Urban Development Authority Chairman: Harshan de Silva (2019-2021) (streamlining investment Director-General: S.S.P. Ratnayake (2017-2019) approval process) Director-General: N.P.K. Ranaweera (2019-2021) National Building Research Organization (NBRO) Director-General: Asiri Karunawardena (2018-2021) (streamlining investment approval process) Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) (streamlining investment Municipal Commissioner: Roshanie Dissanayake (2017-2021) approval process) Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Director-General: B.K.Prabath Chandrakeerthi (2018-2020) Department (streamlining investment approval process) Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance Co-Chairs: Malik Fernando (2019-2021) (Tourism industry) Co-Chairs: Shiromal Cooray (2019-2021) Executive Director: Nishan de Mel (2016-2021) Verite Research Independent Research Director: Gehan Gunatilleka (2016-2021) think tanks/ Advocata institute Executive Director: Dhananath Fernando (2016-2021) research CEO/Secretary General: Dhara Wijayatilake Ceylon Chamber of Commerce institutions/ Economist: Shiran Fernando local American Chamber of General Manager: Vrai Raymond chambers/ Commerce federations Employers’ Federation of CEO/Director General: Kanishka Weerasinghe (2016-2020) Ceylon Country Manager: Faris Hadad-Zervos (2018-2020) Country Manager: Chiyo Kanda (2020-2021) World Bank Country Manager: Emmanuel Salinas (2016-2017) Country Manager: Tatiana Nenova (2018-2019) International Monetary Fund International Resident Representative: Eteri Kvintradze (IMF) donors/ International Finance Country Manager: Amena Ariff (2016-2020) institutions/ Corporation (IFC) INGOs Consultant: Michael Giorgadze International Labour Country Director: Simrin Singh Organisation (ILO) GIZ Country Director: Randa Kourieh-Ranarivelo Japan International Cooperation Chief Representative: Kiyoshi Amada (2016-2019) Agency (JICA)
41 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV ANNEX IV: SRI LANKA LABOR CODE
TABLE 4: CHAPTERS OF THE LABOR CODE
CHAPTER LAWS SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES COVERED 1. Labor Relations Industrial Disputes Act Disputes between labor and management, Industrial Disputes Hearing and Determination of collective agreements, Industrial courts, Proceedings (Special Provisions) Act Labor tribunals Trade Unions Ordinance Trade Union rights and liabilities Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Termination provisions Provisions) Act Employees’ Councils Act 2. Terms and Wage Boards Ordinance Authorization for the Minister to appoint Conditions of Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of labor and employer industrial wage boards Employment Employment and Remuneration) Act to set terms and conditions of Employment of Trainees (Private Sector) Act employment, such as minimum wages and Budgetary Relief Allowance of Workers (No. 1) hours of work, for workers in “scheduled Budgetary Relief Allowance of Workers (No. 2) employment” – 43 boards Budgetary Relief Allowance of Workers Act Terms and conditions of employment for shop and office employees 3. Employment of Employment of Females in Mines Ordinance Provisions for the protection of women in Women, Young Maternity Benefits Ordinance employment Persons and Children Employment of Women, Young Persons and Maternity benefits Children Act Restrictions on the working hours of women 4. Occupational Safety Factories Ordinance Safety in Factories and Health and Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance Payment of Workers’ Compensation Workmen’s Compensation 5. Social Security Employees’ Provident Fund Act Retirement and Deferred Compensation Employees’ Provident Fund (Special Provisions) Law Benefits. Creation of the Employees’ Employees’ Trust Fund Act Provident Fund and Employees’ Trust Employees’ Trust Fund (Special Provisions) Act Fund Payment of Gratuity Act 6. Foreign Employment Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Employment agencies Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act Employment of foreigners 7.Miscellaneous Estate Labor (Indian) Ordinance (ELO) Employment of Indian workers, and then Medical Wants Ordinance employment on estates and plantations Indian Immigrant Labor Ordinance (agricultural) Minimum Wages (Indian Labor) Ordinance Trade Union Representatives (Entry into Estates) Act Estate Quarters (Special Provisions) Act Allowances in Plantation Workers Act Service Contracts Ordinance
USAID.GOV SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT | 42 ANNEX V: FINANCIAL REPORT
43 | SUPPORTING ACCELERATED INVESTMENT IN SRI LANKA (SAIL) PROJECT FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV