November 17-19, 2010, the International Center of Worcester (ICW), housed at Clark University, will host a delegation of four high-level government officials from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The delegation includes the three Executives from the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and the Secretary of the Provincial Ministry of Local Government, Relief and Rehabilitation.
The delegation’s two-day program in the Worcester and Boston area will focus on visits to the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI), the Launch in US Alliance, the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development Massachusetts Office of Business Development, and a site visit to an area manufacturing company.
In order to experience American life and culture, the delegates will have dinner in the homes of two local families who are active with ICW. The most important result from these “Citizen Diplomacy” programs is that visitors return home with a totally changed perception of America and a strong desire to strengthen friendly relations between our countries. What they tell their professional colleagues, friends, and families when they return home has much greater credibility than the words of professional diplomats or the media. This kind of “Smart Power” is an increasingly important part of U.S. foreign policy, defense strategy, and homeland security.
Sri Lanka is now stabilizing after more than two decades of ethnic violence and political strife. In 2004, tens of thousands of their population died and hundreds of thousands were displaced in the great Indian Ocean Tsunami that originated in Indonesia. This delegation is in the U.S. to make contacts with companies and government agencies, and to learn best practices in attracting direct investment.
Their visit to the United States is sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, professional, and sports exchange programs.
The goal of the International Visitor Leadership Program, as with all people-to-people exchanges, is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries.
ICW promotes “Citizen Diplomacy” by giving its members opportunities for personal contact with emerging leaders from around the world. Located on the Clark University campus, ICW has been welcoming international visitors to central Massachusetts for over 45 years. It is up to the volunteer participation of local citizens, colleges, government, businesses, and cultural organizations to promote international understanding.
