Sri Lankan Community Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Independence

On Wednesday 22 February 2023, a Sri Lankan Evening took place at the Centre Culturel Prince Henri in Walferdange, hosted by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, Grace Asirwatham.

The event was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Luxembourg, and the 75th anniversary of the independence of Sri Lanka.

Over 150 guests attended the event including ambassadors of other countries, the Mayor of Walferdange, François Sauber, members of the Sri Lanka community in Luxembourg and representatives of the diplomatic corps, and the business and social communities in the Grand Duchy, including from the tourism sector.

The formal part of the evening started with the playing of the national anthems of both Luxembourg and Sri Lanka, followed by the traditional lighting of candles to the accompaniment of traditional drums.

Ambassador Asirwatham addressed those attending and stated that she was very happy to be celebrating the two milestones here in Luxembourg. She referred to Sri Lanka facing its greatest ever economic crisis in 2022, and stated that progress is now being made to address the country’s challenges. The country’s foreign deficit is being addressed and the government has taken measures, more of which are to he announced shortly, to ensure medium-term and long-term stability and high economic growth including attracting more foreign investment. The tourism sector is recovering following setbacks including the COVID-19 pandemic, with a significant increase in tourism arrivals last year and already this year. Economic measures are also addressing the green economy. On relations between Luxembourg and Sri Lanka, the current focus is to focus on the untapped potential across a number of sectors. She concluded her speech by making a toast.

A representative of Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Olinger, delivered a short speech and praised the close bonds linking the two countries and mentioned Minister Asselborn visiting Sri Lanka in 2020 where he identified a number of areas of potential collaboration.

The formal part of the evening was followed by a cultural section including traditional dance performances by a Sri Lankan dance troupe based in France. A buffet dinner of traditional Sri Lankan dishes followed, with further dance performances and tourism videos being projected onto a large screen on the stage.