On 11th May 2014, a Wesak celebration and almsgiving took place at the Buddhist Temple in Berlin organized on behalf of the German Dharmaduta Society, Colombo, by Mr. Tissa Weeraratna, vice-president of the society, with the cooperation of Sri Lanka Embassy in Berlin.
A delegation from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development arrived in Germany on 19th April 2014 and briefed the German Youth on the World Conference on Youth (WCY) 2014 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 06th - 10th May 2014.
With the help of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Berlin, officials of the PICU-project based in Hanover / Germany have travelled to Sri Lanka to discuss further steps to promote the development of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital and other projects for the upliftment of the medical services for children in Sri Lanka. During their visit, they met all decision makers of the project in Sri Lanka and were even able to brief H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa about the progress of the project. "This was a great honour for us," Prof. Wolf Dieter Gogoll and Hartmut Schulz write, thanking the Ambassador for its support.
With an evening of classical music, the Gymnasium Isernhagen, a modern high school located on the outskirts of Altwarmbüchen in Northern Germany, has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its relations with schools in Sri Lanka. On this occiasion, H.E. the Ambassador of Sri Lanka for Germany, Mr. Sarath Kongahage made one of his frequent visits to the school to support this noble venture as guest of honour. Also present was the mayor of the city of Isernhagen, Arpad Bogya.
The German Asia-Pacific Business Association in Bremen celebrated its 113th Anniversary recently with H.E. the Ambassador of Sri Lanka Mr. Sarath Kongahage as Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker. The German Asia-Pacific Business Association is a strong network of German business companies in the fields of trade, industry, banking and small and medium size enterprises with activities in the Asia Pacific region. The Association works on the promotion of bilateral economic relationships between Germany and the Asia-Pacific Region.
Sri Lanka has been again represented prominently at the ITB Berlin, the world's leading travel trade show taking place every year in the German capital. More than 174,000 visitors, among them 114,000 trade visitors, and 11,000 represented companies including tour operators, booking engines, destinations, airlines, hotels and car rental companies from 189 countries participated in the ITB. The ITB Berlin enjoys worldwide media recognition and offers comprehensive support for all marketing questions of exhibitors. In addition, the world's largest tourism convention ITB Berlin Convention provides unique opportunities to benefit from the leading think tanks of the global tourism industry.
Dr. Hans Gunther Oberlack, Mayor of Glienicke/Nordbahn, a residential area north of Berlin, Germany, has organized a ceremony to celebrate the 66th independence day of Sri Lanka in the town hall. H.E. the Ambassador of Sri Lanka for Germany, staff of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Berlin and the Sri Lankan community living in Glienicke/Nordbahn were invited for the celebration.