Sri Lanka to connect stronger to West as Expo 2015 opens in Milan

The Expo 2015 world fair, held every five years since inception in 1931, was launched on 1 May by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the open air stage of the expo site in Milan, Italy.
This year’s event, which is expected to attract over 20 million people into the beautiful city of Milan, will be on until 31 October and is themed ‘Feed the world’.
Sri Lanka was represented by Chargé d’Affaires for Sri Lanka in Italy Poshitha Perera, Expo Sri Lanka Commissioner General Dr. Rohantha Athukorala and Deputy Commissioner General D.W. Jinadasa.
At the opening of the Sri Lanka Pavilion, Perera stated: “It is very timely that Sri Lanka further strengthens its partnership with the West given the strong trade and business that takes place between Sri Lanka and the West. It is commendable how the seven key State agencies – Sri Lanka Tourism, EDB, Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Gem and Jewellery Authority, BOI, SriLankan Airlines and the Craft Council – are working in unison under the Commissioner General to project brand Sri Lanka. We must now extend this working relationships in the future, so that we can really show the strength of Sri Lanka in Italy and the rest of the world.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
He added: “From Ceylon Tea to Ceylon sapphire and Ceylon cinnamon to the Sri Lanka Tourism promise, all are global market champions in their respective businesses, which is unique only to Sri Lanka. We must highlight these elements at Expo on a private-public partnership that has been ably planned by the working committee.”
Athukorala stated: “I must commend the leadership of Prime Minister for securing this space gratis from the Government of Italy and Tourism Minister Navin Dissanayake and Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen who helped us stage this event in just five weeks with necessary approvals from the Cabinet of Ministers. Having visited the key competitive country pavilions at Expo 2015, my take is that it’s time Sri Lanka focuses on macro global trends in the world market and strategise on how we can capture them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
“The country pavilions of Kazakhstan, Angola, Nepal and Vietnam indicate the aggressiveness and appetite the countries have to get a global share of trade and tourism. We have a lot of catching up to do,” said Athukorala, who is also Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman.
“When I visited the Malaysian and Thailand Country Pavilions, we saw how strong they are in the digital space, driving online connectivity, which is where the global traveller behaviour is moving towards and Sri Lanka needs to align speedily. I am glad as a team Sri Lanka took the first step to be present at Expo 2015 and now let’s work together to make Sri Lanka the power house of South Asia,” said Athukorala, who architectured the nation brand building strategy at Expo 2015 for Sri Lanka.
Currently Sri Lanka is valued at $ 61 billion as per Brand Finance (UK) and it is poised to cross $ 80 billion plus in the next two years given that the drag on this value in the past was on the pivotal area of ‘governance’. “This has now been corrected post the election of the new Government on 8 January, according to experts. Research reveals that countries with strong brand value tend to attract top quality investments and exports become stronger whilst they also become attractive tourist destinations for top dollar global travellers,” said Athukorala.

“Many private sector professionals who have agreed to shoulder public office under the new Government say that the basic social fabrication must be speedily corrected in the public sector whilst reforms will have to be introduced on the processes if we are to really work at the speed that competition is moving. Whilst Sri Lanka is ranked the best in the Doing Business Index of the World Bank for South Asia, it has failed to attract the top investors of the world and this has to be corrected, say the specialists. The visit by Senator John Kerry, the highest ranking US official to have visited Sri Lanka in the last decade, is a big win for the country as we make it the share of voice in global media,” said Athukorala.
The focus for the month of May for Sri Lanka at Expo 2015 will be tourism with Tourism Minister Dissanayake scheduled to visit the event and give leadership with some key strategic partnerships announced.
“The Ministries are lined up to executive strong global pressure to capture business for Sri Lanka in a private-public partnership during the next six months,” said the Commissioner General. “The Expo 2015 Sri Lanka Pavilion has a VVIP room for high level meetings and a fully-fledged media room for announcing strategic partnerships. We will cover the cost of the Expo 2015 by the end of the first month,” said Athukorala, advocating a ROI model of working.