The Ninth Sri Lanka Festival on 8th and 9th of September, 2012 in Tokyo

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo, Japan would be organizing the Ninth Sri Lanka Festival on 8th and 9th of September, 2012 in Tokyo. In this context, a Press Conference was held on 3rd of August, 2012 which was attended by over 80 media personnel including print and electronic, travel & tourism writers, travel agents and event organizers among others. Ambassador Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda welcomed the invitees at the said Press Conference. In his opening remarks, the Ambassador highlighted the congenial and cordial bilateral relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, the importance of this year since it marks the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diplomatic Relations between the two countries, the assistance and cooperation extended by the Government of Japan over the last six decades, the cultural and religious affinity of the two countries, the promotion of tourism from Japan to Sri Lanka and the manner in which the two countries assisted each other at critical and crucial times of its history, among others. The Press Conference included a depiction and presentation of places of interests in Sri Lanka, cultural performances and commercial & economic opportunities in the country. The Press Conference concluded with a Sri Lankan Dinner Reception.

This is the ninth consecutive year that the Embassy would be hosting the high profile Sri Lanka Festival. This year, the theme of the Festival is “Miracle Island: Sri Lanka – Wonder of Asia”. The primary objectives of the Sri Lanka Festival are to promote and project Sri Lanka, in all culture, trade, commercial and particularly in tourism aspects, and to enhance and augment the image of the country, among others.

The Sri Lanka Festival attracts well over 120,000 visitors including that of Japanese, Sri Lankans and other nationalities, and has been a great success over the past eight years. Specifically, the Sri Lanka Festival would portray and showcase the Sri Lankan cultural activities, products and services of Sri Lanka, places and destinations of interest for tourists in Sri Lanka and newly emerged economic and commercial opportunities and vistas as well as the future potential and promise of the country, among others. The said Sri Lanka Festival is organized by the Embassy along with the cooperation and assistance of Sri Lankan and Japanese entrepreneurs, corporates and well-wishers. It is envisaged that nearly 100 stalls and booths serving authentic Sri Lankan food, and displaying of precious gems and costume jewelry, herbal and ayurvedic products, cosmetics, brass and silver ornaments and wood carvings, ceramics, diverse varieties of Sri Lankan tea from different regions of the country, a variety of pure Sri Lankan spices, and Sri Lankan garments including that of hand woven textiles and batik, as well as a Grand Raffle Draw which would include four return air tickets to Sri Lanka, among others. The unique feature of the Sri Lanka festival is that almost all these products and food items are Sri Lankan, by nature. This in turn, promotes, markets and projects the products and services, including that of tourism, of Sri Lankan companies including that of the Small and Medium Enterprises [SMEs].

The two-day Sri Lanka Festival would be filled with a number of activities and cultural shows including that of “Channa – Upuli” dance performance and Sri Lankan songs sung by “Bathiya & Santhush Group”, among others.

It is strongly presumed that the said Sri Lanka Festival, this year as well, would attract a larger number of visitors, thus disseminating and projecting the commercial, economic, trade, service and touristic potential of the country to the Japanese and non-Japanese visitors. It is also of the conviction that the said Sri Lanka Festival would elevate the profile and image of the country, particularly, as a rapidly burgeoning economic and commercial nerve center, in the foreseeable future.

Embassy of Sri LankaTokyo,
Japan7th August,
2012.