Diaspora festival in Colombo postponed

The Government has postponed the diaspora festival which was to take place in December, the Foreign Ministry said.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the Daily Leader that the festival is now likely to take place next year.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had told Parliament in June that in order to encourage diaspora members to engage and contribute to efforts in Sri Lanka, the Foreign Ministry is keen to organize a diaspora festival later this year.

He said that such an event, depending on how it progresses, could even take the form of a regular annual event, to connect Sri Lanka to its diaspora.

Samaraweera said that the event will enable the communities in the country to benefit from the knowledge, capacity, expertise and skills of the Sri Lankan diaspora.

Several countries in the world including India and Ireland to name a few, have benefitted from such organized events.