A workshop was held recently in Sri Lanka to examine the current status of marine and maritime sector in Sri Lanka to enhance the capacity of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka. 

The event was initiated by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the grant aid division of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. 

Nearly 40 people including many government officials and representatives from other relevant organizations participated in the workshop, which was held in cooperation with the Korea Maritime and Ocean University, the Bukyung University and the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training of Sri Lanka. 

This is not be the first time workshops of this nature will be held - the project will run from 2016 to 2021, with grant worth 3 million USD.

Jie Soo Lee, Deputy Country Director of KOICA Sri Lanka Office, emphasized the need in higher education in the maritime industry to boost the economic development of Sri Lanka and acknowledged the gathering for sharing their knowledge in their respective fields of expertise, while Thilak Dharmarathne, Vice Chancellor of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka spoke on the importance of the maritime education in Sri Lanka. 

KOICA said the main objective of the workshop is to support the establishment of the Ocean University, by providing a master plan to ensure the optimum utilization of the Indian Ocean’s maritime resources through providing the technical expertise. In this regard, the workshop was focused on the current status and future vision of the marine industry, such as ocean science, fisheries, ocean engineering and maritime business and logistics program.

Sri Lanka has emerged as a maritime logistics nation in Southeast Asia, connecting the Middle East, Africa and Europe with abundant Oceanic and marine resources. Therefore, it is expected for the maritime industry to play an important role in the economic development of Sri Lanka. Hence the Sri Lankan government, based on their policy for promoting the maritime industry, changed the status - “National Institute of Fisheries & Nautical Engineering” to “The Ocean University of Sri Lanka” in 2014. 

However, in order to utilize the resources of Sri Lanka, there is a need for capacity building to generate higher educated personnel in the industry and be a part of the global logistics hub. Therefore, in order to boost economic development, it is necessary to establish a master plan for the institute. As a step forward, the workshop has been designed to map the current situation of Sri Lankan maritime capacity and to grasp the human resources demand in global ocean market.

The KOICA Sri Lanka Office said it strongly believed that this workshop, which included current status and future vision of various ocean industry program will not only bring significant improvement of ocean sector and also open the chance for a better future for the students of a much needed field in Sri Lanka and proper master plan will serve as a great asset to overcome the struggles in developing a strong maritime sector.