Massive development programmes to modernize Colombo City

The government has embarked upon a massive development program for the development of City of Colombo and its surroundings. Under the master plan for Colombo City development prepared by the Urban Development Authority, development of Independence Square, refurbishment of old Dutch hospital building at Colombo Fort, conservation of Fort areas including Beira Lake and its surroundings, development of Pettah Bus Terminal reserving commercial areas for pavement hawkers have been completed.

Under this massive development programme, the Manning market is to be shifted to Peliyagoda and the Bus Terminal is to be expanded covering the Manning market while putting up a Commercial Complex for payment hawkers. The Central Super Maket ( former fish market) in Pettah is also to be refurbished.

The construction work of these projects will be entrusted to the Engineering Services Divisions of the Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Air Force in order to minimize construction costs.

SriLankan Airlines recommences services to Zurich

SriLankan Airlines spreads its wings to the Swiss city of Zurich today, the latest destination in the continuous expansion of its global route network.

Zurich would be the 58th destination in SriLankan’s global route network which would then span 33 countries. The Airline has in the past 11 months launched services to Shanghai , Guangzhou , Kochi and Moscow .

Zurich was served by Sri Lanka ’s National Carrier for a quarter of a century from 1980, but the service was suspended in 2005 during a global slump in air travel.

SriLankan Airlines Chairman, Mr. Nishantha Wickremasinghe said, “We are delighted to re-launch services to Zurich which we have been planning for some time. This will significantly strengthen our services to travelers in central Europe, which is viewed as a market with great potential for tourism to Sri Lanka .”

The Zurich service would be operated on wide-bodied Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft with luxurious interiors, Flat Bed Seating, and state of the art Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems.

The service will initially be twice-weekly on Monday and Friday and would be increased in the future.

First floating restaurant in Sri Lanka

The first floating reataurant in Sri Lanka was declared open by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The primary cost of the first-ever floating restaurant named “Pontoon North 8°” is 100 million.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, Civil Aviation Service Minister, Piyankara Jayaratne, Sajin Vas Gunawardana, MP and Chairman John Keells, Susantha Ratnayake were also present at the event.

Sri Lanka Tourism achieves record-breaking 800,000 arrivals in 2011

Achieving another remarkable milestone in the country’s booming tourism industry, Sri Lanka Tourism welcomed the arrival of 800,000th tourist in year 2011 at the Bandaranaike International Airport today (19th Dec.) evening. A team of tourism officials headed by the Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism-Dr.Nalaka Godahewa and Managing Director –Mr. Rumy Jauffeur with a group of representatives from travel and tourism Industry warmly welcomed the guest Mr. John Chambi and Mrs. Nadia Chambi who arrived via UL 510 Sri Lankan Airlines flight from London.

This is the first time ever; the tourism industry has received number of arrivals exceeding 800,000 in any given year, making it a ground breaking figure in tourism records. Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism-Dr.Nalaka Godahewa and Managing Director –Mr. Rumy Jauffeur with a group of representatives from travel and tourism Industry warmly welcomed the guest who arrived via UL 501 Sri Lankan Airlines flight from London.

Sri Lanka Tourism offered a special gift and a complimentary package to the tourist who arrived today to visit country’s well- known attractions. During year 2010, total number of tourist arrivals were recorded as 654,476 nos. as opposed to 800,000 in 2012 so far, which is a 33.1% annual growth. This year has seen a massive contribution to this total from India, Japan, Germany, U.K, France, Netherlands, Italy, and Middle Eastern countries. The month of November 2011 breaks another record being the month which received the highest number of tourists – 90,889 numbers in the history of Sri Lanka Tourism calender years.

The arrival of 800,000th tourist has turned everyone’s eyes on country’s fast growing tourism sector which has started sending positive signals of its promising future ahead.At the beginning of year 2011 Sri Lanka Tourism launched their marketing campaign named as “Refreshingly Sri Lanka – Visit 2011”,with the aim of showcasing Sri Lanka as an Island of new found freedom; a place where the visitor can experience everything that is refreshing under the sun.With this new branding, Sri Lanka tourism promoted 8 segments encapsulating 8 wonderful experiences a tourist can enjoy within eight days such as: Pristine,Heritage Bliss, Thrills, Festivities, Essence, Scenic beauty and Wild Life. These eight experiences were further stretched into twelve sub-themes to promote each month of 2011, including beaches, sports & adventure, MICE, people & culture, religious tourism, weddings & honeymoons, body & mind wellness, heritage, nature & wildlife, community & education, culinary and shopping & entertainment.
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Jaffna International Trade Fair 2012 (January 20-22 2012)

The country’s northern most peninsula — Jaffna will witness the 3rd consecutive Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) on 20, 21 and 22 January 2012 at the former open air stage area adjoining Jaffna Public Library in the heart of the city. This trade fair is organized by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt.) Ltd (LECS) together with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FCCISL) and Yarlpanam Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

JITF 2012 is organized to facilitate trade in the north for all industries which will help to develop the northern region of the country that has been neglected for over three decades. Jaffna is the center for commerce in the north with easy access to Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mulativu and the entire Jaffna Peninsula. It has been identified that the northern community needs to be given the exposure for modern technology which will be great importance to develop the infrastructure and standards of living. This mega trade fair will bring together a large number of visitors in the north.

This will be an ideal platform to explore into the potential market with unlimited scope for development, to establish new partnerships and business opportunities, opportunity to analyze the upcoming markets, and an opportunity to interact with private and public sector since BITE 2011 is a comprehensive and focused exhibition in the north.

For more information and Exhibitor Application form please contact Ajantha Ismail on +94 112 390560 or 0777 412280
Fax: +94 112 390563
Email: rizwan@saexhibitions.com

President declares open Nelum Pokuna Performing Arts Theatre

President MahindaRajapakseofficially declared open the Lotus Pond MahindaRajapakse Performing Arts Theater which Sri Lanka received as a gift of China.

The seven storied building is designed according to the famous PolonnaruwaNelumPokuna Model.

It belongs to one of the 70 prominent artistic theatres in the world.

President leaves for Bali Democracy Forum

President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Indonesia this morning to attend Bali Democracy Forum IV. President Rajapaksa will be attending the two-day Forum held Nusa Dua in Bali on December 8 and 9 on an invitation extended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The theme of this year’s Bali Forum is Enhancing Democratic Participation in a Changing World: Responding to Democratic Voices”.

Indonesia launched the first Bali Democracy Forum in 2008 in Bali with goals and objectives to place democracy as a strategic agenda in regional discourse in Asia, to forge closer understanding and cooperation amongst participating countries of the Bali Democracy Forum, to establish a regional cooperation forum that promotes political development, through dialogue and sharing of experience and aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and national capacities, to initiate a learning and sharing process among countries in Asia as a strategy towards the maintenance of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond, to initiate and build a platform for mutual support and cooperation in the field of democracy and political development and to function as a resource base and information center for research and study as well as a pool of expertise in the various sectors relevant to democracy.

This year’s forum will focus on efforts towards enhanced people participation by way of responding to democratic voices, and relevant issues involved in the process.

It is expected that 15 head of states would attend the event, with 54 participating countries from the Asia Pacific region, such as Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Qatar, Sri Lanka, and others.

As many as 66 countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, England, Kenya, Nigeria as well as representatives from the European Union and international organizations are expected to attend the event as observers.

“SRI LANKA EXPO 2012″ 28-31 March 2012

After a lapse of 15 years, Sri Lanka Expo 2012 will be held from 28th to 31st of March, 2012 at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Sri Lanka`s premier exhibition and conference centre. Sri Lanka Export Development Board organizes this national event with the support of public and private sector institutions.

The stakeholders of the event are Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Commerce, Board of Investment, Department of Export Agriculture, Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Gems and Jewelry Authority and National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka.
The objectives of hosting the Sri Lanka Expo 2012 is to promote Sri Lanka’s trade, investment and tourism, Sri Lanka positioning as a lucrative business investment and tourism destination in Asia .
Small and medium scale exporters will be given special consideration at Expo 2012. The exhibition will showcase over 300 stalls, and to cover nearly 1000 products and services. Over 1,000 foreign buyers are expected and exporters will have an opportunity to have one-to-one business meetings with the foreign buyers.
The exhibition will display an array of traditional and non-traditional products under three broad sectors i.e. Agriculture & Fisheries, Industrial Products and Services.

For more information, please, visit www.srilankaexpo.com

Southern Expressway declared open by president

Sri Lanka President speaking at a public gathering after declaring open the country’s first Expressway stressed that separatist tendencies will fade away when we have better road connectivity in the country.,

“The best solution to petty separatism and ethnic divisions is to have closer links among people through an efficient road network,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.

Sri Lanka has turned a new leaf in its road development history, a turn towards the modernization of its road network in line with the best global practices,” the President said. He said that the government plans to link all areas of the country through an Expressway network and called it a revolution in road development.

Sri Lanka’s President on Sunday unveiled the island’s first expressway, linking the capital and the southern city of Galle. The expressway links the island’s southern port city of Galle with Colombo. The 96-kilometre (60-mile) four-lane road cost $700 million this new route will reduce congestion on the main coastal highway – the Galle Road- to Galle