Connecting Regional Economies (CORE)

CORE seeks to address the disparity in economic development between the conflict-affected Eastern Province and the bordering provinces of North Central and Uva, on the one hand, and the rest of Sri Lanka, on the other hand. This is accomplished through an integrated approach: (1) that extends value chains broadly and deeply into the grassroots level; (2) that gives individuals the skills and knowledge they need to participate as entrepreneurs and workers in value chains; and (3) that improves the business environment to enable value chains to achieve greater competitiveness. The reviewers believe that the CORE project is on the right track and has made considerable progress over the past year and a half. It is ready to enter a "take-off" stage where many of its activities should begin to succeed and achieve the results intended. They also believe that the results in the next year and a half should demonstrate that the project should be extended for the option years, but that decision should be made no later than the middle of year three. This would ensure continuity of the activities and productive relationships with the private sector if the project shows further evidence that pos

Source: DEC abstract, PD-ACR-570 (2010). The source's own text.