IESC Celebrates the Large-Scale and Enduring Success of TIPS Program Beneficiaries in Sri Lanka
November 17, 2023
On November 9, 2023, IESC’s President & CEO David Hartingh and Associate Vice President Sujeewa De Alwis hosted a reunion in Colombo, Sri Lanka of former IESC staff and Sri Lankan business leaders who were program beneficiaries of the IESC implemented and USAID funded Technology Initiative for the Private Sector (TIPS) program from 1991 to 2000. TIPS was a $17 million flagship USAID program, working in conjunction with the Sri Lanka Ministry of Industrial Development, which sustainably accelerated the global competitiveness of Sri Lanka’s private sector during a challenging time in Sri Lanka.
David Hartingh opened the event with remarks about IESC, its evolution, its four current projects in Sri Lanka, and the incredible impact and legacy of TIPS, both in Sri Lanka and as a program model that IESC has successfully implemented in countries around the world.
The attendees included TIPS beneficiaries who today are Sri Lankan corporate leaders across an array of sectors including agribusiness, information and communications technology (ICT), electronics manufacturing, handicrafts, rubber, toys, and water, to name a few. These present day corporate leaders shared their stories about the status of their companies in the 1990s, how the IESC implemented TIPS program enabled them to transform their businesses from micro and small enterprises into large-scale successful companies, and they described the status of their companies today. The attendees also described in detail the impact of the TIPS support that catalyzed the growth of their companies, which included cost shared competitively awarded grants coupled with targeted technical assistance, access to technology, attendance at trade shows, and support in making buyer connections and closing sales. A number of the participants noted that their companies, some of which began in their backyards, now have thousands of employees and export to dozens of countries around the world. Mr. Nissanka Weerasekera, the USAID representative for the TIPS project at the time, who is now a private sector leader himself, also attended the event. He highlighted TIPS’ contributions to the Sri Lankan business ecosystem, including how TIPS was responsible for a “paradigm shift in policy interventions aimed at private sector development, changing the focus from rent-seeking and crony capital-driven large corporates to entrepreneurial and risk capital-driven SMEs as the real engine of growth.”
Further, the attendees discussed how the era that TIPS took place in Sri Lanka is similar to the circumstances that the country faces today. These present day corporate leaders unanimously agreed that in spite of the challenges facing Sri Lanka today, today’s talented micro and small business owners in Sri Lanka can achieve what they did if provided the same type of support provided by IESC under TIPS.
About TIPS: For nearly a decade, the USAID Sri Lanka funded and IESC implemented TIPS project created sustainable jobs, enhanced the technological sophistication of enterprises through international technology transfer, and increased export earnings. IESC provided assistance to over 1,000 companies through the life of the project, resulting in employment increases averaging 67%, export increases of roughly 55%, and domestic sales increases of over 40%.
