ANNOUNCEMENTS 

   

PARADISE ON PARADE AS SRI LANKA

TAKES OVER TRAFALGAR SQUARE!

 Refreshingly Sri Lanka – ten-day trade and

tourism festival starts on June 15th

 The Sri Lankan High Commission unveiled details of a spectacular ten-day Refreshingly Sri Lanka festival to showcase the very best the Indian Ocean island paradise has to offer.

 Highlight of the Refreshingly Sri Lanka campaign will be a massive open-air party, to be held on Saturday 17th June in Trafalgar Square, devoted to Sri Lankan arts, music, culture, crafts, food and drink .

 The four-hour visual and musical extravaganza will include dancers, drummers and fire-eaters, live demonstrations of traditional crafts from mask-painting, lace-making to Ayurvedic massage, food stalls, a tea pavilion, and an art and photographic exhibition.

 The afternoon, co-hosted by BBC Radio 1’s DJ Nihal and Russell Amerasekera from top TV travel show Wish You Were Here, will also feature a live link to Lord’s cricket ground, where England and Sri Lanka will be going head-to-head in the first of the NatWest Series one-day internationals.

 The Refreshingly Sri Lanka party is just one of a host of events designed to boost tourism and trade between the two countries, and to give a unique taste of the many facets Sri Lanka has to offer.  The event is supported by the Mayor of London’s office.  Ken Livingstone commented: “I am pleased to welcome the Sri Lanka Promotional Week to London in June 2006.  This is a wonderful opportunity for Londoners to celebrate the vibrant heritage and culture of Sri Lanka and to recognise the contribution that London’s large Sri Lankan community makes towards the enrichment of our capital”.

 Other activities include:

  • the Sri Lanka Food Festival, being staged from 15th-25th June at the five-star Royal Garden Hotel, in London’s Kensington High Street;
  • the Sri Lanka Film Festival, at various venues around London, running from 20th ,  22nd -24th June;
  • the Sri Lanka Book / Art / Photographic Exhibition, at Foyles Book Shop in Charing Cross Road, from 16th-23rd  June;
  • and a traditional Sri Lankan Tea Tasting, at Fortnum & Mason, on 19th -25th  June.

Running in conjunction with the consumer events, Sri Lankan exports –apparel, handicrafts  from gems and spices to IT and electronics – will be the focus of the Serendib Trade Exhibition, being held at the New Connaught Rooms in London’s Covent Garden from 21st-23rd June.

 And on 22nd June there will be an investment forum, organised by the Commonwealth Business Council in association with the UK’s National Outsourcing Association, at Marlborough House, Pall Mall.

 “Sri Lanka is rightly renowned for its beautiful beaches and wonderful weather, but the island also boasts a rich and thriving cultural heritage in addition to an abundance of trade opportunities,” says Her Excellency Mrs Kshenuka Senewiratne, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner for UK and Ireland.

 “It is hoped that Refreshingly Sri Lanka will open British eyes to the diversity of trade, investment and tourism attractions that our Island Home has to offer, and reinforce the already-close ties between our two countries.”

 -ends-

  

REFRESHINGLY SRI LANKA – PROGRAMME

OF EVENTS – 15th JUNE-25th JUNE

 Open Air Festival

  When:  Saturday 17th June

Where:  Trafalgar Square, London WC2

A four-hour visual and musical extravaganza, starting at 1pm and featuring dancers, drummers, fire-eaters, handicraft demonstrations, photographic and art exhibitions, Ayurvedic massage, Sri Lankan food, a traditional tea pavilion .  For more details, go to www.refreshinglysrilanka.lk.

Sri Lanka Food Festival

 

When:  Thursday 15th June-Sunday 25th June 2006

Where:  Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, London W8 4PT

 Chef’s from Sri Lanka’s world-class Mount Lavinia Hotel take over the Royal Garden’s stylish Park Terrace restaurant to offer a feast of flavours.  Buffet-style dinner, with welcome drink and selection of Sri Lankan teas, costs £25.00 per person. For further information, and reservations, call 0207 937 8000.

 Sri Lanka Tea Tasting

 

When:  Monday 19th June  - Sunday 25th June 2006

Where:  Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1A 1ER

 Fortnum & Mason has joined forces with producers of the finest Ceylon teas, to offer a tantalising Sri Lankan tea-tasting experience.  For further information on the tasting, call 0207 973 4091.

 

Sri Lanka Book Festival & Art Exhibition

 

When:  Friday 16th June – Friday 23rd June 2006

Where:  Foyles Bookshop, 113- 119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB

 A two-week celebration of Sri Lankan literature opens with the first-ever SriLit Book Festival, with guests including Booker prize nominee Romesh Gunasekara, Sir Christopher Ondaatje, and Shiromi Pinto.  For further information call 0207 437 5660.

  

Sri Lanka Film Festival

 When:  Tuesday 20th June - Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Road, London W11 2ED

Thursday 22nd June - Saturday 24th June - Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley           Street, London W1K 1HF

 For the first time ever in London, a film festival dedicated to the diversity of Sri Lanka and its people.  The four-day programme starts at the Electric Cinema with the UK premiere of The Garden, and then moves to the Nehru Centre for a quartet of films by Sri Lanka’s top directors.  For further information and reservations, call 0207 491 3567.

Serendib Trade Exhibition

When:  Wednesday 21st June-Friday 23rd June 2006

Where:  New Connaught Rooms, 61-65 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5DA

 Some 70 Sri Lankan businesses showcase a range of products including apparel, gems and jewellery, rubber-based products, IT and electronics, tea, spices, processed food and beverages, cut flowers and foliage, and lifestyle products.  For further information, go to www.serendib06.com.

 Investment Round Table

When:  Thursday 22nd June

Where:  Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX

 This will be an invitation-only investment forum for leading UK businesses, organised by the Commonwealth Business Councilin conjunction with the National Outsourcing Association. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OPERATIONAL .

             The official website of the Department of Commerce , Sri Lanka is now fully operational.  Website address is :  www.doc.gov.lk

                        This website contains among other things, latest developments relating to Sri Lanka’s bilateral, regional and multilateral trade relations with other countries.

             It is also the most reliable source to obtain information relating to the Free Trade Agreements that Sri Lanka has signed with India and Pakistan.   While  full texts of these Agreements and salient features are available in the website, it also provides useful information on the progress of the WTO negotiations and details of recent trade preferences offered to Sri Lanka under the EU-GSP Plus Scheme by the European Union.

             Information provided in the website are useful for both importers /exporters, general public, government organizations, trade chambers, product associations, business councils and students of international trade.

 

 Change of E-Mail Address :

Please note that the e-mail address of Sri Lanka High Commission has been changed. Our new e-mail address is mail@slhc-london.co.uk 

 

ZERO DUTY ON IMPORTS FROM SRI LANKA

TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

            We are pleased to announce that Sri Lanka has been included for trade concessions under  the EU-GSP+ scheme with effect from 1st July 2005, as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, bearing reference No: L169/1 of 30th June 2005. Details in this regard can be obtained from :  http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/editorial/legal_notice.htm

             According to the EU-GSP Incentive Arrangement, nearly  7200 products from Sri Lanka will be eligible to enter the European Union market at zero duty provided such products meet the prescribed Rules of Origin criteria. This entails over 90% of Sri Lanka’s export products to the European Union to be eligible for zero duty concession.

             These highly favourable  concessions have been extended as Sri Lanka has ratified, introduced legislation and implemented  a series of conventions on human rights, good governance, labour rights and environment.

             The European Commission has already notified the National Customs Authorities in the European Union member states of this new Arrangement, and its administrative and operational procedures for compliance.

             Undoubtedly the  imports from Sri Lanka under the new Arrangement will make  the  products  more competitive in the UK market.