Tuesday, 16 July 2013 01:49
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External Affairs Minister wants expenditure for the summit to be viewed as an investment
Govt. says world’s most influential leaders will get opportunity to see Lanka’s post-war progress during summit
No countries have declined to participate in CHOGM says GL
C’Wealth Business Forum to market Lanka as shipping, recreation and knowledge hub
High profile business leaders have confirmed participation at CBF says GL
Minister claims Lanka will take centre stage in the world as C’wealth Chair till 2015
JHU calls on public to support MEA through CHOGM like Defence Ministry through war
By Dharisha Bastians
Sri Lanka will take centre stage when it assumes the leadership of the Commonwealth for two years following the organisation’s Heads of Government Meet in Colombo in November, a top Minister pledged yesterday, while declining to comment on the tab the major international meeting would run up for State coffers.
Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, who chaired the first major media briefing on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013 together with Cabinet colleagues, Ministry secretaries and members of the CHOGM Task Force, said that the summit would enhance the prestige and stature of Sri Lanka when it assumes the Commonwealth Chair till 2015.
Asked about the estimated total cost to be incurred by the Government on the summit, Minister Peiris played defensive, urging the press corps to view the matter from a positive rather than a negative perspective.
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“Any effort, if it is to be good, requires expenditure. Don’t ask what we will spend on the summit; ask how much the summit and especially the Commonwealth Business Forum will bring in terms of investment to this country. This expenditure must be viewed as an investment to generate more inflows,” he charged. Queried on what quantity of investment the Government hoped to attract following the summit, Minister Peiris replied that it would not be possible to speculate on that ahead of the meeting.
Despite the negative spotlight on Colombo and calls by Canada to boycott the summit in Sri Lanka, no countries have declined to participate, according to Minister Peiris. The summit would afford Sri Lanka the advantage of exposure, the Minister said, calling on world leaders to attend the Colombo meeting and “be led by the evidence of their own eyes” rather than be misled by propaganda.
“The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting in Colombo earlier this year was a singular success, with attending delegates visiting the north and recognising the range and quality of progress there since the end of the conflict,” the Minister said.
The External Affairs Minister said that the Commonwealth Business Forum, which would happen on the sidelines of CHOGM, would also afford an opportunity to market Sri Lanka as a shipping, recreation and knowledge hub.
“Sri Lanka also boasts political stability and tranquillity to attract investors, and here is our opportunity to present this to the world,” he said. The Minister said that Sri Lanka’s place in the region in terms of international shipping lanes and transnational commerce would be showcased to high profile businessmen from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth nations who had already confirmed participation at the Business Forum.
“This is the first time in 24 years that an Asian country has hosted CHOGM,” Minister Peiris said, adding that the Government was engaged in meticulous preparations for the major summit.
He said it was also President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s “emphatic wish” to ensure the participation of Sri Lankan society in the summit and the Government was therefore organising grassroots awareness of CHOGM in provincial schools.
Striking a militaristic chord, JHU Member and Provincial Councillor Udaya Gammanpila urged all Sri Lankans to support the External Affairs Ministry through the CHOGM hosting process as they supported the Defence Ministry during the war.
“Sri Lanka’s opportunity to host CHOGM is a symbol of defeating the separatist forces in the world who are attempting to isolate this country internationally,” Gammanpila said, adding that the theatre of battle against separatism had merely shifted from the Vanni to the international arena. “This is no longer a military war, it is a diplomatic one and the Ministry of External Affairs deserves our support,” he said. Gammanpila said the provincial councils would support the Government in its hosting endeavour.
