With the outbreak of the pandemic, local and international conferences, seminars and exhibitions in Sri Lanka have been suspended since last March and the government is
focusing on reinstating this in parallel to reopening the country for tourists.

The Tourism Minister stated this at the inauguration of the “Be Sri Lankan Buy Sri Lankan” trade fair and “Lankapak” exhibition held at the BMICH. These exhibitions are
organized under the pilot project of holding local and international conferences, seminars and exhibitions in Sri Lanka.

Minister Ranatunga asserted, “the government is paying increasing attention to encourage local products and industrialists. Owing to the Covid-19 epidemic, the public has started to buy local products, increasing the domestic production in the country while triggering the need for markets. So, holding such exhibitions and conferences have become vital at the moment”.

He further added, “while we are reopening the country for tourists, we will resume holding local and international conferences and exhibitions to prepare the required market.
However, this will be initiated only upon the recommendation of the health sector.”

Ministry of Industries Wimal Weerawansa said “we have to continue our political and socio-economic activities under the new normalization situation and ensure the economic
development of the country by holding these exhibitions, conferences and seminars while maintaining health guidelines”.

Minister Weerawansa further stated, the packaging industry has made significant progress compared to other industries and it is eco-friendly. One of the main policies of our
government is to empower local production and necessary steps are being taken for that”.

Secretary to the State Ministry of Primary Health Services, Dr. Amal Harsha De Silva also addressed this event.