From left: Manjula De Silva, CEO, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC); Renuka Weerakone, Director General, Board of Investments (BOI); Hanaa Singer, Resident Coordinator, United Nations in Sri Lanka; Chamindry Saparamadu, Director General, Sustainable. Development Council in Sri Lanka; Malin Herwig, Officer-in-Charge, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka;  Dulani Sirisena, SDG Integration Specialist, UNDP in Sri Lanka; and  Shiran Fernando, Chief Economist, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and UNDP in Sri Lanka this week launched the Sri Lanka SDG Investor Map (the Map), a market intelligence tool that seeks to direct private capital where Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) priorities, government policy and market opportunity intersect, as the country seeks to rebuild its economy sustainably, using the SDG framework as its guide. 

The methodology for the Map was created by UNDP SDG Impact. The Map will be a crucial tool to accelerate Sri Lanka’s recovery pathway and build forward better. The Map can be used by investors wishing to explore Sri Lanka as an investment destination while also rendering benefits for local communities and the environment; enterprises that want to adjust their business strategy towards inclusive models and are seeking market intelligence and investment rationale to validate their approach and government agencies seeking to address entry level barriers for the private sector and to build an amenable ecosystem for the development of SDG enabling sectors.

In Sri Lanka, the Map was the result of a strong collaboration between UNDP and Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Development Council, the nodal government institution responsible for coordination, facilitation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Sri Lanka. 
Highlighting how the map will inform Sri Lanka’s efforts to rebuild its economy sustainably, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, Resident Coordinator, United Nations in Sri Lanka said, “A whole-of-society approach is needed to mitigate the immediate impacts of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and assure the country’s long-term sustainable development. The Sri Lanka SDG Investor Map offers a compelling pathway for private sector entities to increase the alignment of their investments with the SDGs. 

It complements the recently launched United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023–2027 by translating relevant country-level SDG gaps and priorities into private sector investment opportunities that will have lasting impacts on lives and livelihoods across the country.”  

Highlighting UNDPs role, Malin Herwig, Officer-In-Charge, UNDP in Sri Lanka commented, “The SDG Investor Map has provided us market intelligence on SDG aligned investment opportunities for Sri Lanka at this critical juncture. UNDP together with the Government of Sri Lanka, through the Map, calls for development partners, IFIs and private impact investors to come together to formulate financing solutions to contribute to the country’s recovery and SDG acceleration.”