Sri Lanka Regional Empowerment through Vibrant, Inclusive, and Viable Economies

About this project

Sri Lanka faces significant spatial disparities that hinder equitable and balanced growth opportunities, particularly in the Northern and Eastern provinces. These provinces struggle with low GDP contributions (only 4.1% and 5.1%, respectively) and high poverty rates (23.8% and 18.6%) compared to the national average of 14.3%. Unemployment rates in districts like Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Ampara, and Batticaloa exceed 7%, well above the national average of 4.7%. Despite the strong potential of key productive sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and agriculture, resources and assets remain largely underutilized. This is compounded by critical gaps in enabling infrastructure—including weak connectivity, inadequate water supply, poor solid waste management, and limited productive facilities—as well as the absence of comprehensive regional development strategies and insufficient support for priority economic value chains. To address these challenges, the proposed operation adopts a programmatic and phased approach, with an emphasis on spatially targeted investments in selected clusters. Project interventions comprise a set of inter-linked components and activities, aimed at: (i) improving regional economic planning, while building institutional capacity for sustained development; (ii) financing catalytic public infrastructure investments with a view to attract private investments in the selected clusters; and (iii) supporting local enterprises in the selected clusters through business…

Published by

World Bank · Multilateral

Countries

Sri Lanka

Sectors

Multi-hazard response preparednessLocal government administrationTourism policy and administrative managementAgricultural policy and administrative managementFishing policy and administrative management

Places

Colombo

Funded by

International Development Association

Implemented by

Ministry of Transport Highway and Urban Development (MTHUD)

Accountable

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Passes funds through

International Development Association

Published by World Bank to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), last updated 3 Oct 2026 and imported automatically. IATI identifier: 44000-P511605.

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