President presides over meeting on 18th Session of CITES to be held in 2019 in SL

Friday, 1 September 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka is ready to host the 18th Session of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2019, and a discussion was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday regarding the preliminary organisational work of this conference.

It is expected that around 4,500 experts from over 187 countries will participate in the session scheduled for May 2019 in Colombo. Holding this session in Colombo is a victory that Sri Lanka achieved as a country which is actively engaged in wildlife conservation activities.

During this meeting the preparation work of the sessions was discussed in detail. The president also appointed an additional secretary for carrying out coordinating work after delegating the necessary responsibilities to the relevant ministries.

Ministers and MPs, including Ministers Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, John Amaratunga, Nimal Siripala de Silva, S.B. Nawinne, Tilak Marapana, Harin Fernando, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Secretary to the President Austin Fernando and other officials including ministry secretaries participated in this meeting.