I am here to represent the Government and the people of the United States of America who provided the funds for this new Center. 

I am very glad to be here in Kaluwanchikudy today. I am especially glad as it gives me an opportunity to reiterate the United States’ commitment to support the stability, security, democratic governance, economic growth, and development in Eastern Sri Lanka. 

The fact that we are here today shows that the United States’ commitment is more than just words. We are making a serious commitment to support your institutions and to improve the economic opportunities that impact all of the people in the East.

It is beyond doubt that the Eastern Province has great potential for economic growth. However, to nurture the economic potential, we need skilled people. And to enhance people’s skills, we need institutions such as the Kaluwanchikudy Vocational Training Center.

This center is truly unique. The Kaluwanchikudy Vocational Training Center will be the first and only formal vocational education training facility in the southern half of Batticaloa District. This center will help young people here in Kaluwanchikudy to become productive members of society by teaching skills in trades that lead to well-paying jobs. This center will help you support yourself, the Eastern Province and Sri Lanka as a whole to build a prosperous society for your own and future generations.

I suspect that you, the residents of Kaluwanchikudy, agree with me.  Based on your interest here today, I know you appreciate our efforts and that future students of this school see how this kind of education will be a catalyst for their careers. Last week, when this new school opened its doors for registration, there were long lines of potential students seeking a place at the center. In fact, more than 500 students gathered to compete for 143 slots. This is proof of how much you welcome a Vocational Training center in Southern Batticaloa. And it is proof of the young people’s interest in gaining appropriate skills to enter the job sector. 

At Kaluwanchikudy Vocational Training Center, young people will learn trades in plumbing, electrical work, masonry and domestic sewing.  The main focus of the center, however, is the information technology department.  This center is part of larger plans to make Kaluwanchikudy the lead center for information technology in the East.

I cannot stress enough the importance of gaining solid IT skills. IT skills are no longer skills that are nice to have.  In order to survive, compete, develop and innovate, modern companies need to harness IT.  All companies and employers will look for job applicants who can use IT to find information, communicate, calculate, and make decisions.

To make sure the skills acquired by the students here at Kaluwanchikudy are in tune with the needs of their potential employers, we have developed the vocational skills curricula in consultation with the private sector.

We have also worked with other private donors, such as the Chevron Corporation, Prudential and the Mellon Foundation, who have provided generous funding to ensure this vocational education center is complete and equipped with modern equipment for the use of the students. 

Today we mark the completion of a large construction project, but we also mark another significant milestone: the beginning of training that will lead to more economic opportunities than these young people who will graduate from this institution could have dreamed of. From now on, the teaching and learning that will take place inside this new building that becomes the most important focus. It is now the task of the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training and the Vocational Training Authority to make sure that this school’s potential is realized so that it can help to expand economic opportunities for young people and turn out a workforce whose skills are in demand.  

Ladies and gentlemen, providing education and training for the young people of eastern Sri Lanka is a key piece in the overall goal of creating lasting development, growth and stability in the east.  But an equally important piece in that strategy will be to attract private sector investment to create jobs for all those who receive training. 

The US Agency for International Development has a number of important initiatives with Hayley’s, Cargill’s, Brandix and others to promote private sector led growth in the East.  But when we approach potential private sector partners, they tell us that the Government’s first priority in the East, and the pre-requisite for private sector investment, must be to ensure security in the east. 

That means that the central Government and the elected Chief Minister must assert responsibility for security, end the abductions and extra-judicial killings and other security challenges that continue, and demobilize paramilitaries, including all child soldiers.  Only then will we see the Eastern Province attract significant private sector investment and realize its great potential.

I had the honor of meeting the Chief Minister in Batticaloa this morning to discuss these important issues.  I was pleased that he assured me that he too is committed to demobilizing the paramilitaries and ending the gun culture that has prevailed in many parts of eastern Sri Lanka.    
   
I want to thank and congratulate the US Agency for International Development (or USAID) for its vision in prioritizing vocational education in its tsunami reconstruction program and our Government of Sri Lanka partners for your excellent collaboration on this project. I also want to commend our contractors Sierra Construction and CH2MHill.  Thanks to all of our efforts, we can all take pride in the completion of this impressive school.

Ministers, distinguished invitees, staff and future students – I wish you every success with making the Kaluwanchikudy vocational training center a center of excellence and a place that offers new opportunities to the young generation of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province.

Thank you.

[US Embassy, Colombo , Sri Lanka]