The 64th Independence Day Celebrations of Sri Lanka was held on 7th February 2012 at Hotel Hilton International in Abu Dhabi with an unprecedented large gathering of well wishers , Business Community and Diplomats. The picture shows His Excellency Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Labour in UAE , Hon. Alavi Mowlana, Governor of the Western Province of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Sarath Wijesinghe, Ambassador for Sri Lanka in UAE with Ambassadors of UK, EU, Canada, France, Oman, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Iran, Africa and many other countries in the World Family.
On the 4th February 2012 the National Flag was hoisted by the Sri Lankan Ambassador H.E. Sarath Wijesinghe at the Embassy Premises in the presence of the staff and a large gathering of Sri Lankan Community .
The main Reception on the 7th February 2012 was held at Hotel Hilton, Abu Dhabi for diplomats and the business community was also well attended. Almost all the Ambassadors and a large section of the community over 400 gathered at the main reception at Hotel Hilton, Abu Dhabi. His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education, His Excellency Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Labour attended the function to represent the UAE Government. Hon. Alavi Mowlana, Governor of Western Province of Sri Lanka was also present as a guest of honour. There were a cultural pageant, music, raffle draw and various other items of entertainment.
The second half of the function was a networking session. The main themes of this session were Image Building, Investment Promotion, Tourism Promotion and Employment Generation. Special emphasis was given for Tourism. Mr. Anura Lokuhetty, President of the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, Mr. Arjun Dharmadasa, Managing Director of Lanka Exhibition & Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd, and a large number of UAE business community were present at the networking session. The speech made at the Hotel Hilton by His Excellency Sarath Wijesinghe the Ambassador is enclosed.
First Nenasala Overseas was declared open 8th February 2012 by Hon. Alavi Mowlana, the Chief Guest. The Nenasala was sponsored by Express Money in which Dr. B.R. Shetty is the Managing Director.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Abu Dhabi - UAE
09th February 2012
