CDC Events handles largest-ever conference Lions Forum Sri Lanka with 2,400 delegates

The 44th ISAAME (India, South Asia, Africa and Middle East) Forum 2016 that concluded recently was held in Colombo from 30 November to 3 December. This forum brought in over 2,400 delegates from 35 countries out of which 2,000 delegates were foreign and the remainder Sri Lankan.

This was the first time a single professional conference organiser handled an event of this magnitude independently, whereas other conferences were handled by many Professional Conferences Organisers (PCOs) or the Government. 

Connaissance Chairman/MD and CDC Events Chairman Chandra Wickramasinghe, congratulated the team at CDC for accomplishing this task which makes them the largest professional conference organiser in Sri Lanka. He also thanked the Lions Club International of Sri Lanka for appointing CDC Events as their event organiser.

The forum took place in several venues in Colombo. The Inauguration Ceremony was at Temple Trees whilst the main Conference and Closing Ceremony took place at the BMICH. The headquarter hotel Cinnamon Grand Colombo also played a significant role during the forum. Many other concurrent events took place throughout the forum such as the Lions Leadership Dinner, Lions Cricket Sixes, Parade of Nations, Cultural Perahera Pageant, Bridal Fashion Show, Cultural Performances, Tree Planting Session and Musical Show for the benefit of the delegates and the Sri Lankan business community along with the public.

Sponsors of this event were Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Sri Lankan Airlines, Zam Gems, Stone n String, Prime Lands, E-WIS, Commercial Bank, Nature Secrets and many others. Official Caterers for this event were Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Hilton Colombo and the Mount Lavinia Hotel.

It is the fifth time this International Forum took place in Sri Lanka. CDC Events Managing Director Imran Hassan stated that he was overjoyed at being involved in the organising of this event in 1999, 2007 and 2016.

He added that this was one of the largest and most difficult events handled by CDC Events and throughout his entire career. One important fact he stressed upon is that Sri Lanka lacks in infrastructure and called upon the Government to take necessary action as Sri Lanka is fast tracking attracting large numbers for delegations such as conventions, conferences and exhibitions and there is not a single venue that can accommodate this number in one setting with various activities concurrently taking place at the same time. “As a professional in the industry it is very important stress the urgency of this situation and hope for a brighter tomorrow.”

On a final note he concluded that CDC Events had moved into a new state-of-the-art facility along with Connaissance De Ceylan and geared up for greater prospects for the future.