Foreign Ministry pavilion at the Deyata Kirula 2010' National
Exhibition
The pavilion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the
'Deyata Kirula 2010' National Exhibition focuses on many areas of Sri
Lanka's foreign policy by tracing the origins of Sri Lanka's first
diplomatic engagement dating back to ancient times to modern day
interactions with the international community across the globe. The
Exhibition which was declared open 4th February) by H. E President
Mahinda Rajapaksa in Pallekalle, Kandy, will be open to the public until
10th February 2010.
Following the inauguration, Foreign Minister Rohitha
Bogollagama accompanied by the Diplomatic Corps, including High
Commissioners and Ambassadors, visited the pavilion which also included
stalls by diplomatic missions based in Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister
Bogollagama explained Sri Lanka's historic relations with many nations
and its current engagements with the international community to the
Diplomatic Corps. Sri Lanka's international interactions were depicted
through photographs which adorned the pavilion. The photographs and
panels at the pavilion also illustrated Sri Lanka's bilateral and
multilateral relations, economic diplomacy initiatives, development
cooperation, cultural relations, the developmental assistance provided
by donor countries to Sri Lanka and consular assistance.
Foreign Minister Bogollagama and the members of the
Diplomatic Corps also visited the fifteen stalls by High Commissions and
Embassies at the Foreign Ministry pavilion. These stalls displayed
material, information and items which are of interest to the visiting
public.
Some of the special features of the pavilion include a
mobile consular unit which will provide services to the visiting members
of the public on-the-spot and a mock UN General Assembly session where
interested students can participate and obtain hands-on training in
diplomacy. The mock UN Session will be coordinated by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training
Institute and will be conducted in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages.
The participants will be provided with a certificate and a book voucher.
In addition, the pavilion also includes a special
visual presentation highlighting the future vision for Sri Lanka's
foreign policy in keeping with the 'Mahinda Chinthanaya'. A touch-screen
has also been installed at the pavilion to provide information about
selected countries including Sri Lanka's foreign relations and bilateral
trade with each country.
The Foreign Ministry pavilion will also disseminate
information in a simple, easy-to-comprehend and attractive format using
an amalgamation of audio-visual media and briefings including visuals of
international Summits held in 2009 such as the 8th Asia Cooperation
Dialogue (ACD) Conference which was held in Colombo on 15th October 2009
and Sri Lanka's participation at the last UN General Assembly session in
New York among other selected foreign policy speeches/interviews.
Courtesy: Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 
