SL to host ICAPP in September

Sri Lanka was very strategically located for such a meeting,” Mr. Eui-yong said during the meeting in July

Sri Lanka will be hosting the next International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) from Sept. 18 to 21, 2014, with the opening ceremony scheduled to take place on September 19.

The preparations were finalised when the Secretary-General of the ICAPP Standing Committee, Chung Eui-yong met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees this afternoon. 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 last year. When Mr. 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 throughout Asia were expected to attend the high-level conference.

“Sri Lanka was very strategically located for such a meeting,” Mr. Eui-yong said during the meeting in July.

President Rajapaksa also addressed a special conference of ICAPP in Shanxi 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 relationship between and among Asian nations.

Ambassador of Korea in Sri Lanka, Jongmoon Choi accompanied Mr. Euiyong.