The 44th ISAAME (India, South Asia, Africa and Middle East) Forum 2016 that concluded recently was held in Colombo from the 30th of November to the 03rd of December 2016. This forum brought in over 2,400 delegates from 35 countries out of which 2,000 delegates were foreign and the remainder Sri Lankan.
It was the first time a single Professional Conference Organizer handled an event of this magnitude independently, whereas other conferences were handled by many Professional Conferences Organizer’s (PCO’s) or the Government.
Chandra Wickramasinghe the Chairman of Connaissance and the Chairman of CDC Events congratulated the Team at CDC for accomplishing this task which makes them the largest professional conference organizer in Sri Lanka.
He also thanked the Lions Club International of Sri Lanka for appointing CDC Events as their event organizer.
The forum took place in several venues in Colombo. Theinauguration ceremony at Temple Trees whilst the main Conference and closing ceremony took place at the BMICH.The headquarter hotel Cinnamon Grand Colombo also played a significant role during the forum.
Many other concurrent events took place throughout the forum such as the Lions Leadership Dinner, Lions Cricket Sixes, Parade of Nations, Cultural Perahera Pageant, Bridal Fashion Show, Cultural Performances, Tree Planting Session and Musical Show for the benefit of the delegates and the Sri Lankan Business Community along with the Public.
Sponsors of this event were Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Sri Lankan Airlines, Zam Gems, Stone n String, Prime Lands, E-WIS, Commercial Bank, Nature Secrets and many others. Official Caterers for this event were Cinnamon Grand Colombo, Hilton Colombo and the Mount Lavinia Hotel.
It is the 05th time this International Forum took place in Sri Lanka.
Imran Hassan the Managing Director of CDC Events stated that he is overjoyed at being involved in the organizing of this event in the year 1999, 2007 and this year-2016. He also continues to say that this was one of the largest and most difficult events handled by CDC Events and throughout his entire career.
One important fact he stressed upon is that Sri Lanka lacks in infrastructure and calls upon the government to take necessary action as Sri Lanka is fast tracking attracting large numbers for delegations such as conventions, conferences and exhibitions and there is not a single venue that can accommodate this number in one setting with various activities concurrently taking place at the same time.
As a professional in the industry it is very important stress the urgency of this situation and hope for a brighter tomorrow.
On a final note he concluded stating that CDC Events has moved into a new state of the art facility along with Connaissance De Ceylan and geared up for greater prospects for the future.
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