(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) A delegation from the US Government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) led by Fatema Z. Sumar, Regional Deputy Vice President for Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America, visited Colombo to advance progress on the development of the MCC compact—a five-year grant program—with the Government of Sri Lanka that aims to reduce poverty and promote economic opportunity for Sri Lankans.
'We are pleased to announce LKR 1.1 billion ($7.4 million) in funding that the Millennium Challenge Corporation is providing now to support the development of a compact, including identifying and analyzing specific projects for potential investment,' Sumar said.
Because the compact is still in development, the total compact funding amount has not yet been determined. The $7.4 million in funding is in addition to the total MCC compact funding amount.
Based on an analysis of the constraints to economic growth, MCC and the Government of Sri Lanka are now conducting due diligence on potential projects in the transport and land sectors.
The Sri Lankan Government has established a project management unit—the Sri Lankan Compact Development Team—within the Prime Minister's office to work with MCC on the compact. The goal is to develop a high-quality, evidence-based and sustainable compact aimed at addressing these economic challenges in a way that drives growth and reduces poverty. MCC holds partner countries accountable through rigorous oversight, monitoring and evaluation.
Sri Lanka's compact development team is consulting with a wide group of stakeholders to collect input – including potential beneficiaries, civil society, the private sector, other donors, and relevant government entities.
In December 2016, MCC's Board of Directors selected Sri Lanka to develop a compact. Sri Lanka became eligible for assistance after passing 13 out of 20 indicators on MCC's policy scorecard. Sri Lanka will need to be reselected by MCC's Board in December for compact development to continue.
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