Organization APO and Singapore Cooperation Programme SCP. Since inception in 1995, Korea has been contributing to the PPSD programmes. Since then, 1,305 officials from CPS
member countries have participated in PPSD’s training programmes. Drug Advisory Programme DAP
The Colombo Plan Drug advisory programme CPDAP was launched in 1973, as the first regional programme to address the drug abuse problem in the Asia – Pacific region and the
oldest of the current Colombo Plan Programmes. From the inception the CPDAP has been contributing to the development of human resources in member countries by enhancing the
capabilities of officials in government and non-governmental organizations involved in drug abuse prevention and control.
Responding to the changing needs of the member countries, which are facing multi-faceted problems due to illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse the CPDAP has embarked on
several innovative strategies in the recent past. One among them is the faith-based approach to drug demand reduction. This strategy is implemented by mobilizing religious leaders and
scholars who are being given specialized training and exposure to best practices in the region. The other strategy is strengthening of on-going drug prevention and treatment initiatives in
the member countries, through establishing Outreach Drop-in Centres ODCs. Seven ODCs have been established in Afghanistan 1, Pakistan 4 and the Philippines 2 to supplement
and strengthen the on-going treatment and aftercare efforts in these countries. The third strategy is introducing life skills to students and young people through formal education and
activities. The CPDAP continue to enhance and integrate life skills into drug demand reduction programmes. With the aim to create a cadre of addiction professionals in the Asia –
Pacific region and to raise the benchmark for quality services and care for recovering individuals and families, the Asian Centre for Certification and Education ACCE of
Addiction Professionals was established in February 2009 under the CPDAP.
The Afghanistan initiative is the largest programme of the CPDAP. The initiatives include the Assistance to Treatment Facilities in Afghanistan, the Operation of Mosque-Based Drug
Prevention and Aftercare Programme, the Transit Shelter for Women and Girls Victims of Gender-Based Violence, the Counter Narcotics Public Information CNPI Campaign, and
the Implementation of School-Based Drug Prevention Programme.
2. CMC LIMITED, INDIA
Computer Maintenance Corporation CMC Limited commenced operations in October 1976. While maintenance activities progressed well, CMC slowly spread its wings and turned its
attention to other areas of computer support. Offices were set up in different cities and a whole range of consultancy services offered including Facility Management, Software
Development, Networking Services and Computer Education and Training.
CMC, a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services TCS, is the undisputed leader in India in third party hardware maintenance, providing support to 1,000 mini and mainframe
installations from over 30 international manufacturers IBM, DELL, HP, SUN, ATT to name a few. CMC specializes in implementing turnkey projects in key vertical markets like
Stock Exchanges, Finance and Banking, Insurance, Power, Transportation, Defence, Mining, Ports, Cargo and e-governance. Horizontal technological expertise applied across these
sectors includes embedded systems, on-line transaction processing systems, process control, image processing, Windows-GUI, UNIX and networking data communications.
With 18 offices in India, a wholly owned subsidiary company in USA, global marketing presence and a talented pool of technical manpower, CMC caters to the IT requirements of
customers and provides cutting edge, unmatched solutions both in India and abroad.
CMC ventured into education and training in India in the year 1978. It was one of the first companies in the field of Information Technology to offer IT education and training
programmes on a regular basis for a wide spectrum of people.
CMC Limited today has its own training centres in 6 cities namely, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. In addition, it has around 150 authorized
training centres spread across the country. The Education Training division has tie-up with various technology partners namely, Sun, IBM, Thomson Prometric etc., to provide quality
training and testing services. CMC’s training capabilities are recognized by employers across the country and international partners like the Colombo Plan.
3. PROGRAMME FOR IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THROUGH THE ROLE OF FINANCE IN INDIA
Finance has been identified in many business surveys as the most important factor determining the survival and growth of SMEs in both developing and developed countries.
Access to finance allows SMEs to undertake productive investments to expand their businesses and to acquire the latest technologies, thus ensuring their competitiveness and that
of the nation as a whole. Poorly functioning financial systems can seriously undermine the microeconomic fundamentals of a country, resulting in lower growth in income and
employment. Despite their dominant numbers and importance in job creation, SMEs traditionally have
faced difficulty in obtaining formal credit or equity. For example, commercial bank loans extended to SMEs are often limited to a period which is far too short to pay off any sizeable
investment. Meanwhile, access to competitive interest rates is reserved for only a few selected blue-chip companies while loan interest rates offered to SMEs remain high.
Moreover, banks in many developing countries have traditionally lent overwhelmingly to big multinational corporations MNCs, which offered less risk. Such practices have crowded out
most SMEs borrowers and increased the cost of capital for them. In the case of venture capital funds, they have been concentrated in mainly technology sector. Likewise, the
international financial institutions have not adequately supported financing for the SMEs. SMEs are regarded as high-risk borrowers due to their insufficient assets and low
capitalization, vulnerability to market fluctuations and high failure rates. These preferences and tendencies have exacerbated the lack of financing for SMEs.
In this context, the Colombo Plan in collaboration with the CMC Limited, India, is organizing the Training Course on Improving the Competitiveness of SMEs in Developing
Countries through the Role of Finance, with emphasis on sharing experiences in financing programmes for SMEs.
4.OBJECTIVES
The objective of this training programme is to enable the participants to understand the best practices in financial innovations for SMEs in enhancing their long run viability and
competitiveness. In addition, the specific objectives are:
• to understand the recent developments of financing programme served by commercial banks;
• to determine specialized institutions and programmes for SMEs at national and international level;
• to understand the components of finance; • to provide participants the know-how venture capital funds; and
• to recognize the role of international community in supporting the development of SMEs.
5. CONTENT OF THE WORKSHOP
