| The Type of Work BPA Does |
BPA has run numerous programmes and initiatives. Those below have been selected to demonstrated
the range and type of work that is undertaken in the regions through BPA:
Reconciliation Committees
Through Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation (FLICT), BPA runs a programme
entitled Networking Regional Business for Conflict Transformation. This project works through
regional Chambers to bring together influential persons from commercial, civic and religious
communities, across all ethnicities, providing training and tools to increase awareness of the dynamics
and causes of conflict so they can influence their communities positively, and also to respond to local
incidents swiftly, mediating on the ground to avoid the escalation of unrest. This has been so
successful, that the model is due to be expanded to new regions in the coming year.
Empowerment through Peace
Through the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Resolution, BPA runs a series of workshops entitled
Peace & Conflict from a Regional Empowerment Perspective in Sri Lanka. This training invites
participants from all districts to increase their awareness of conflict on the ground, and shares
practical tools and techniques by which to promote greater tolerance and demonstrate the
advantages of working collaboratively across communities to create more empowered regions. The
success of the initial programme has led to a second phase of training aimed at embedding and
deriving maximum benefit from this learning.
Peace through Economic Development
Through Mercy Corps funding, BPA has worked with the Ampara Chamber of Commerce to expand the
operations of the district Business School, to provide business skills which are currently in deficit.
This is aimed both at the unemployed, and also at small business owners who struggle to sustain their
enterprises. Virtual satellite schools are also being established in neighbouring towns. The goal is that
through prosperity and employment, the root of much discontent can be eradicated.
Building the Capacity of the Regions
BPA runs a series of best practice workshops involving representatives from all regions. A recent
example is the Income Generation Workshop run through Voluntary Service Overseas, which provided
a platform for successful income generation models within regional Chambers to be shared, and for
Chamber members generally to pool their ideas as to how they could better service and support their
members to build their businesses, and in so doing, to provide more stable income streams to sustain
the Chamber.
Engagement with the Diaspora
Through International Alert, BPA has established links with Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia. This
included a trade visit in which opportunities for investment back into the Sri Lankan SME community
were identified. Creating such a platform has a secondary benefit, in that it allows diaspora to
develop a stronger understanding about the current Sri Lankan context, helping to dispel some of the
polarised perspectives of this influential community.
Learn & Lead
BPA establishes multi-stakeholder initiatives under the auspice of Corporate Social Responsibility. One
such initiative has the ambitious long term aim of eroding the monopoly of opportunity in Colombo by
identifying gifted students in the regions with the perceived capability to become leaders of
tomorrow, and placing them in schools in Colombo from where they can receive high standards of
education, and establish networks of peers, which – once they graduate – they can draw upon to
bridge the divide of advantage that exists between the regions and the capital.
Promoting Regional Business
BPA has strong connections with the media at both national and regional level. Through core funding,
BPA promotes and advocates for regional business, and the environment in which businesses operate.
Initiatives include the publication of a Regional Business Directory, which holds profiles of regional
businesses from across the country in all sectors. The Directory aims to encourage greater commercial
and trade linkages between districts and provinces, and between ‘big business’ and SMEs.
Empowering Youth
National expansion of the Hambantota Youth Business Trust.
>>[Youth Business International -- Hambantota Youth Business Trust]
Advocating Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR awareness at regional level and pilot projects on CSR in partnership with BPA member chambers.
Networking
Members meet in the regions, hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce, to discuss local issues,
brainstorm solutions, share best practices, and provide a platform for regional policy dialogs and
investor forums.
Peace Visits
Members of the Chambers, their families and friends, travel for personal, cultural and business
exchanges, organised by the BPA and the participating Chambers of Commerce.
International Exchanges
Educational and investment promotion programs (Eg."The Kanzai SME Forum" - Kyoto & Osaka, Japan,
"Study of South Africa's Peace Process", Johannesburg, South Africa, and Study Tours to Turkey, New
York, & London; and receiving Members of the South African Peace Process & Members of the
Canadian Sri Lankan Diaspora Community).
Domestic Investor and Policy Maker Dialogs
Meetings/Seminars with policy makers and investors on issues affecting Peace and Economic Stability,
and investment opportunities in the regions.
Workshops & Seminars
Training programs focusing on Communication & Presentation Skills, Conflict Transformation, and
Corporate Social Responsibility CSR.
Publication of the Regional Business Directory of Sri Lanka 2004
In collaboration with The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, The Federation of Chambers of Commerce &
Industry of Sri Lanka, and The German Technical Corporation-GTZ.
Publication of the Compendium of Regional Producers Directory 2008
Credit Facilitation
Facilitating and advocating for affordable credit for the regional business community.
Trade & Investment Fairs (Peace Bridge)
An inter-regional trade & investment fair with multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multi-
cultural events and exchanges.
Making a Difference
BPA does not actively lobby for peace, but seeks to bring about greater levels of understanding and
cooperation which can bring about a more peaceable society, and through which benefits and greater
levels of prosperity can be derived from all communities. As part of its core activity, BPA engages in
specific activity to this end. Examples include successful lobbying for the opening of the A9 in order
to allow the continuation of trade between the Northern Province and the rest of the country, and
facilitating the sale of rice from Kilinochchi to Kurunegala, to meet shortages in the North Western
Province.
the range and type of work that is undertaken in the regions through BPA:
Reconciliation Committees
Through Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation (FLICT), BPA runs a programme
entitled Networking Regional Business for Conflict Transformation. This project works through
regional Chambers to bring together influential persons from commercial, civic and religious
communities, across all ethnicities, providing training and tools to increase awareness of the dynamics
and causes of conflict so they can influence their communities positively, and also to respond to local
incidents swiftly, mediating on the ground to avoid the escalation of unrest. This has been so
successful, that the model is due to be expanded to new regions in the coming year.
Empowerment through Peace
Through the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Resolution, BPA runs a series of workshops entitled
Peace & Conflict from a Regional Empowerment Perspective in Sri Lanka. This training invites
participants from all districts to increase their awareness of conflict on the ground, and shares
practical tools and techniques by which to promote greater tolerance and demonstrate the
advantages of working collaboratively across communities to create more empowered regions. The
success of the initial programme has led to a second phase of training aimed at embedding and
deriving maximum benefit from this learning.
Peace through Economic Development
Through Mercy Corps funding, BPA has worked with the Ampara Chamber of Commerce to expand the
operations of the district Business School, to provide business skills which are currently in deficit.
This is aimed both at the unemployed, and also at small business owners who struggle to sustain their
enterprises. Virtual satellite schools are also being established in neighbouring towns. The goal is that
through prosperity and employment, the root of much discontent can be eradicated.
Building the Capacity of the Regions
BPA runs a series of best practice workshops involving representatives from all regions. A recent
example is the Income Generation Workshop run through Voluntary Service Overseas, which provided
a platform for successful income generation models within regional Chambers to be shared, and for
Chamber members generally to pool their ideas as to how they could better service and support their
members to build their businesses, and in so doing, to provide more stable income streams to sustain
the Chamber.
Engagement with the Diaspora
Through International Alert, BPA has established links with Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia. This
included a trade visit in which opportunities for investment back into the Sri Lankan SME community
were identified. Creating such a platform has a secondary benefit, in that it allows diaspora to
develop a stronger understanding about the current Sri Lankan context, helping to dispel some of the
polarised perspectives of this influential community.
Learn & Lead
BPA establishes multi-stakeholder initiatives under the auspice of Corporate Social Responsibility. One
such initiative has the ambitious long term aim of eroding the monopoly of opportunity in Colombo by
identifying gifted students in the regions with the perceived capability to become leaders of
tomorrow, and placing them in schools in Colombo from where they can receive high standards of
education, and establish networks of peers, which – once they graduate – they can draw upon to
bridge the divide of advantage that exists between the regions and the capital.
Promoting Regional Business
BPA has strong connections with the media at both national and regional level. Through core funding,
BPA promotes and advocates for regional business, and the environment in which businesses operate.
Initiatives include the publication of a Regional Business Directory, which holds profiles of regional
businesses from across the country in all sectors. The Directory aims to encourage greater commercial
and trade linkages between districts and provinces, and between ‘big business’ and SMEs.
Empowering Youth
National expansion of the Hambantota Youth Business Trust.
>>[Youth Business International -- Hambantota Youth Business Trust]
Advocating Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR awareness at regional level and pilot projects on CSR in partnership with BPA member chambers.
Networking
Members meet in the regions, hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce, to discuss local issues,
brainstorm solutions, share best practices, and provide a platform for regional policy dialogs and
investor forums.
Peace Visits
Members of the Chambers, their families and friends, travel for personal, cultural and business
exchanges, organised by the BPA and the participating Chambers of Commerce.
International Exchanges
Educational and investment promotion programs (Eg."The Kanzai SME Forum" - Kyoto & Osaka, Japan,
"Study of South Africa's Peace Process", Johannesburg, South Africa, and Study Tours to Turkey, New
York, & London; and receiving Members of the South African Peace Process & Members of the
Canadian Sri Lankan Diaspora Community).
Domestic Investor and Policy Maker Dialogs
Meetings/Seminars with policy makers and investors on issues affecting Peace and Economic Stability,
and investment opportunities in the regions.
Workshops & Seminars
Training programs focusing on Communication & Presentation Skills, Conflict Transformation, and
Corporate Social Responsibility CSR.
Publication of the Regional Business Directory of Sri Lanka 2004
In collaboration with The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, The Federation of Chambers of Commerce &
Industry of Sri Lanka, and The German Technical Corporation-GTZ.
Publication of the Compendium of Regional Producers Directory 2008
Credit Facilitation
Facilitating and advocating for affordable credit for the regional business community.
Trade & Investment Fairs (Peace Bridge)
An inter-regional trade & investment fair with multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multi-
cultural events and exchanges.
Making a Difference
BPA does not actively lobby for peace, but seeks to bring about greater levels of understanding and
cooperation which can bring about a more peaceable society, and through which benefits and greater
levels of prosperity can be derived from all communities. As part of its core activity, BPA engages in
specific activity to this end. Examples include successful lobbying for the opening of the A9 in order
to allow the continuation of trade between the Northern Province and the rest of the country, and
facilitating the sale of rice from Kilinochchi to Kurunegala, to meet shortages in the North Western
Province.
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