Promising public-private partnership to power agricultural revolution in the country
Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo (October 26, 2021): Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd. entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Polish venture capital firm Regina Purpurea Fundus today, to establish preliminary parameters to form a joint venture for an organic fertilizer manufacturing operation in Sri Lanka. This agreement sets in motion key strategic actions in the agriculture development policy of the country’s National Policy Framework (NPF) – ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ – which calls for the sector’s steady transition into organic fertilizer produced domestically.
This immensely promising public-private partnership (PPP) was formalized in the presence of Minister of Agriculture Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe, Hon. State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa and Secretary to the State Minister Mr. M. N. Ranasinghe. The MoU was signed by Polish entrepreneur Hubert Drabik, Founder and President of the Board of Regina Purpurea Fundus, and Chairman of Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd., Mr. Methsiri Wijegunawardana.
“Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd is a state owned organization anchored to a 150-year legacy of quality and excellence,” added Hon. Shasheendra Rajapaksa, State Minister of Agriculture. “The mission of CCFL is to provide superior fertilizers to farmers across Sri Lanka, and has hard earned the trust and loyalty of local farmers by ensuring the delivery of benchmarked quality fertilizers to meet their needs. With CCFL’s guaranteed quality assurance, we can be assured that this promising public-private partnership will greatly contribute to the sustainable growth of Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector.”
Regina Purpurea Fundus (RPF) is a Polish venture capital consortium working with development-oriented governments and organizations to invest in a wide range of initiatives aimed at sustainable economic growth both domestically and internationally. Established in 2004 as a family foundation with a mission to support entrepreneurs across municipal and social economy as well as commercial business development, RPF is supported by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture, the Polish Chamber of Commerce, and a number of state banks of
Poland. The Fund is also backed by one of the Key National Clusters of Poland – the Mazovia Cluster ICT as its ICT Partner, connecting global resources and expertise across six R&D Institutions and three investment funds to power over 400 Polish and international organizations. Anchored to these strong financial, technical and technological foundations, RPF has invested globally in projects such as water purification, waste-to-energy, organic agriculture and related supply chains across Europe as well as Asia, bringing to the table capital, technology and knowledge to mark the start of a timely and crucial transformation in the Sri Lankan agriculture sector.
In order to reach outstanding investment results, RPF applies an innovative cluster cooperation method based on matrix management inclusive of sector investors, project finance partners and know-how partners contributing through required industry, technology and technical expertise. RPF intends to design, finance, build and operate the large-scale project with a total investment of LKR 12.8 billion, with proof of availability of funds. The operation will be strategically spread out across four plants in Trincomalee, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Hunupitiya, supported by a state-of-the-art testing and certifying laboratory, and will contractually produce an annual capacity of 200,000 metric tons of organic fertilizer for Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd (CCFL) on an exclusive basis. The organic waste input for production will be provided by CCFL.
“We commend Sri Lanka’s bold approach to sustainably transition into organic agriculture under the visionary leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and are grateful for this opportunity to establish preliminary parameters in what promises to be a mutually beneficial partnership,” Hubert Drabik commented. “We believe this is simply the start of bilateral cooperation between Poland and Sri Lanka, and look forward to a successful and progressive joint venture.”
A comprehensive due diligence investigation of the investment proposal and funding capacity will be carried out by CCFL with mutual cooperation from the RPF to its satisfaction within the next two weeks, followed by cabinet approval of the project. All parties will then enter into a more comprehensive Joint Venture Agreement with detailed conditions mutually agreed upon within three weeks from today.
Discussions for mutual business development opportunities started in early 2020 between the Polish Investor Partners Consortium and key Sri Lankan government representatives and business leaders, where Agriculture and Food Production were highlighted as a promising investment opportunity. This investment also promises to make inroads into the Polish consumer market as well as other Eastern European countries.