A high profile delegation from Sri Lanka’s bid committee is in Veracruz, Mexico to promote its bid for the Hambantota 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The delegation is attending the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation, (CACSO) General Assembly March 2 to 6 where the regions’ Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA) are gathered.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Hambantota 2018 Organising Committee Co-Chairman and Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said, “we are an island nation with a big heart and big aspirations. As islanders we have a strong sense of our own unique identity, of independence and of camaraderie with a can-do approach to life. Our delegation is looking forward to the opportunity of meeting with CGAs from the Caribbean and Americas to show how seriously we are taking our responsibility as a CGF Candidate City in bidding for the honour of hosting the 2018 Games. And in consulting with them in developing our plans for an exemplary event”.
Hambantota 2018 plans to visit Commonwealth countries in all six regions – Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, America and the Caribbean – before submitting its bid book in Kuala Lumpur May 11.
Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister and Co-Chairman of the Organising Committee, Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, added, “it is not only large and advanced economies that should be considered as host cities of major events. A key ambition of our bid campaign is to inspire other island, developing and emerging nations, and their people, throughout the Commonwealth”.
The Commonwealth Games Federation is to choose the host city for the 2018 Commonwealth Games at its meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis on November 11, 2011.
