An EU-funded project is working to make Sri Lanka’s industrial parks more efficient, environmentally responsible and economically competitive, contributing to the country’s broader green development agenda, the European Union Delegation said.
The large-scale capacity-building programme targets more than 1,000 stakeholders across the country’s industrial sector and aims to promote the Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) concept, EconomyNext reported. It is delivered by the EU-funded Green Recovery Facility project, implemented by Expertise France together with Sri Lanka’s National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) and German consultancy firm Adelphi.
The cohort includes 25 policymakers, 32 industrial park operators, 475 tenant industries and 640 members from neighbouring communities. Engagement covers two virtual sessions, an in-person workshop and follow-up training on policy and regulatory frameworks, green financing, environmental management and compliance, industrial symbiosis and stakeholder engagement.
“EU experience with eco-industrial parks shows that linking parks to innovation, cleaner technologies and markets is key to attracting investment and scaling circular economy practices, and that the strongest results come when companies choose to work together voluntarily rather than through top-down instruction,” said Dr Johann Hesse, Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
“By engaging government, park operators, tenant industries and neighbouring communities, this programme helps create the conditions for competitive, low-carbon industrial growth,” Hesse added.
Many industrial zones and enterprises are working to address challenges related to environmental management, resource efficiency and ageing infrastructure to strengthen competitiveness and long-term resilience, the EU Delegation said in a statement. The activity aims to lift policy-level understanding, enhance the operational capacity of park operators, support resource-efficient practices among tenant industries, and encourage improved coordination with neighbouring communities.
The push follows an EU-Sri Lanka business roundtable in late May that explored broader investment, trade and sustainability ties between Colombo and Brussels.
