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One-stop service centres for SMEs by 2021

29 Feb 2020

By The Sunday Morning Business Desk Sri Lanka is planning to launch 25 district level one-stop service centres islandwide for the registration of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The centres would be partially digital and partially manual and would establish links with relevant government organisations and facilitate their approvals through a single window in 25 district secretariats. These centres, which will be established in each of Sri Lanka's 25 district,  would also provide easy access to information on incentives and facilities to MSMEs. The Ministry of Small and Medium Business and Enterprise Development is the steering entity of this initiative and they obtained the Cabinet approval for this proposal last Tuesday (25). Ministry Secretary Monti Ranatunga told The Sunday Morning Business that registering an enterprise is a cumbersome process and a start-up has to go to several places to obtain their approvals, licenses, and permits and as a result, sometimes enterprises give up on these efforts. “As such, over 40% of the establishments are not registered and they also lack awareness on the benefits of registration and the process,” Ranatunga noted. However, these centres would introduce e-business registration with online application facilities and also facilitate approval from environmental authorities, Ministry of Health offices, and licenses from local authorities and other government agencies. In addition to this, MSMEs would be linked with quality certification agencies such as the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) and facilitate the process. Furthermore, MSMEs would be provided with technology and innovation assistance, entrepreneurship and management development facilities, and access to finance. Linkages would be developed with banks and financial institutes and information and guidance on various loan schemes will be made available. Furthermore, the centres will also establish market linkages with the corporate sector and guide them on exploring international markets and organise promotional activities. These centres are also expected to streamline the assistance provided by the business development service (BDS) providers of the country and help them effectively focus on the needs of the MSMEs. This Rs. 150 million project would commence this year, but would be ready for business registration only by next year, according to the Ministry. “Setting up a centre at district level requires approximately Rs. 4-6 million for partitioning, furniture, and equipment, and it also needs five officials,” Ranatunga noted. The centres will be managed by a governing body functioning under the district secretary which will have members from the public and private sectors. The governing body will be chaired by the district secretary or his/her nominee and co-chaired by a representative from the provincial council and the private sector. According to Ranatunga, the governing body can co-opt members on needs basis to solve certain issues. However, such members will not have any decision-making rights. The governing body will meet at least once a month initially and thereafter, meet on a quarterly basis. The centre will also work in collaboration with all divisional secretariats of the district. MSMEs contribute about 52% to the country's GDP and provide livelihood to more than three million people, which is 45% of the country's total employment. The MSME sector comprises of 25.6% of industrial business representation and 33.4% of service-related businesses while trade accounts for 41%.

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