Seminar on sharing experiences in local economic development

The Industrial Services Bureau (ISB) has organised a national level, experience-sharing forum on “Local Economic Development in Practice” under the theme “Shaping Local Economy Through Lessons Learnt” on November 28, at the Centre for Banking Studies, Central Bank, Rajagiriya, Colombo.

The objective of this forum is to create an opportunity for various development agencies and individual experts to share their experience in four important themes of local economic development: “Local Economic Development Through Regional Industrialisation;” “Market System Appro a ch f or Local Economic Development;” “Role of Producer Organisations/Social Enterprises in Local Economic Development;” and “Sustainable Consumption and Production in Local Economic Development.”

K. C. Logeswaran, Governor, North Western Province will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest while Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank will deliver the keynote address as the Guest of Honour, the ISB said in a media release.

ISB is a statutory body established under the North Western Provincial Council in mid 1990 with the focus of economic development through investment promotion and industrialisation. During this period, the ISB has diversified its services in many areas and now function as a semi-autonomous organisation based in Kurunegala.

ISB is considered as one of the role models in this area of expertise and has success stories not only in the regional level, but also in national level too. With the experience gained and lessons learned while working with different donors, development agencies, public and private sector, the ISB has decided to share its experience and exploit the opportunities of replicating these success cases in lagging parts of the country.

The forum will consist of four technical sessions and each session will consist of a paper presentation for about 30 - 45 minutes and a panel discussion for about 45 – 60 minutes. A group of nationally recognized experts in local economic development will join in panel discussions. The panel comprises the representatives from academia, policy makers, Ministry Secretaries, INOs/ NGOs, development agencies, public and private sectors.