30 November 2017 12:10 am
By Supun Dias
In a bid to place Sri Lanka as a major destination for tourists, 100 Chinese couples will tie the knot at a gala wedding ceremony on December 17, at Town Hall, Colombo, under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena.
The couples will later be hosted a dinner at Water’s Edge, Battaramulla and will be take on tours to Yala, Sigiriya and Kandy.
The event is undertaken by the Megapolis and Western Province Development Ministry together with the Tourism and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry.
Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka made this announcement while delivering the keynote address at Sri Lankan Economic and Investment Conclave (SEIC) 2017 on the Sri Lanka-China Dialogue in Colombo, this week.
“China has spearheaded the fourth industrial revolution and Sri Lanka should take steps to benefit from this especially from One Belt One Road (OBOR) as we are strategically placed in the centre of the world’s busiest sea lane,” Ranawaka said.
“We are linked to China in many ways and throughout history we have been close. Back in the day Admiral Zheng He came to the island and took our King Alakeshawara to China. So we have our relatives there too and it is a good opportunity for us to integrate with China, culturally as well,” he noted.
China has considerable investments in the country and Sri Lanka has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists with over 200,000 Chinese tourists arriving this year so far.