Sri Lanka to host International Conference of Asian Political Parties in September
Friday, 14 March 2014 06:40
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka will be hosting the next International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) 18-21 September 2014, with the opening ceremony scheduled to take place on 19 September.
The preparations were finalised when the Secretary-General of the ICAPP Standing Committee Chung Eui-yong met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. As hosts, Sri Lanka was requested to select the main theme of the conference, which was decided to be “Building an Asian Community.”
The invitation to host this year’s ICAPP was made in July of last year when Eui-yong met the President then, he said other ICAPP members were “very enthusiastic” about the possibility of Sri Lanka hosting the next conference. Approximately 100 different political parties from throughout Asia are expected to attend the high-level conference.
“Sri Lanka is very strategically located for such a meeting,” Eui-yong said during the meeting in July.
President Rajapaksa also addressed a special conference of ICAPP in Shaanxi Province during his state visit to China in May 2013. At that meeting as well, there was a focus placed on the need to strengthen the relationships between and among Asian nations.
Ambassador of Korea in Sri Lanka Jongmoon Choi accompanied Eui-yong. Minister of Health and the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithreepala Sirisena, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Kshenuka Seneviratne were also present.
