Founded in 1992, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) is the development aid agency of Türkiye, operating in more than 170 countries around the world. As an important pillar of the Turkish foreign policy, TİKA focuses on the needs of the target country and developing its the infrastructure and capacity. TİKA has been active in Sri Lanka, completing and continuing many projects in various sectors. TİKA’s activities in Sri Lanka focus on areas such as education, health, agriculture, fisheries, housing, and humanitarian aid, contributing to the country’s development and increasing social welfare.
The first project of TİKA in Sri Lanka was the housing project for the internally displaced people as a result of the civil war. In response to a request from the former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TİKA took action and built the “Türkiye-Sri Lanka Friendship Village” consisting of 100 houses in Mannar for Muslims displaced due to the civil war. The project was completed in 2015 and equipment was provided to two schools in the village.
After this initial project, TİKA continued to provide assistance to Sri Lanka and these projects have contributed to strengthening friendly bilateral relations between Türkiye and Sri Lanka. Every year, TİKA is among the Turkish aid agencies that distribute food packages during Ramadan as part of humanitarian aid without any prejudice to religion, ethnicity or language, in order to support those in need.
In order to contribute to the efforts to improve the quality of education and to the training of qualified workforce, TİKA has focused on capacity building activities for the Vocational Training Centre operating in Mawanella. Training materials for various branches have been provided to the centre and educational programmes have been organized. In this context, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Türkiye, expert trainers from various schools and institutions visited Sri Lanka to organize such programmes. The latest training programme was held in Beruwala for two weeks in August 2024, where 40 students had the opportunity to join the vocational training on refrigeration and air conditioning, as well as advanced level electrical and automotive maintenance and servicing. These programmes aim to contribute to the human capital and to empower the youth of Sri Lanka through education and skills development.
The “Cezeri Studio” established by TİKA at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka makes a significant contribution to the country’s technology and innovation studies. At Cezeri Studio, training is provided in areas such as 3D design, robotic coding, and device usage, thus contributing to the development of technological skills of university students and academics.
Among TİKA’s ongoing projects in Sri Lanka are the establishment of a water reservoir and water canal system in the Ampara Region and the development of a soil microbiology laboratory. The project in Ampara will be completed this year and will ensure the irrigation of large agricultural lands. The soil microbiology laboratory project was initiated at the request of the Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture and aims to improve the capacity and physical facilities of the laboratory.
