Sri Lanka has proposed to host a grand shopping festival similar to the world famous “Dubai Shopping Festival” to attract more tourists, a statement said on Friday. The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) held a meeting with the Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, recently to discuss the proposed plan. The fair will target both the foreign and local shoppers by offering various choices and discounts while coloured by cultural and sporting events, musical programmes and book exhibitions etc. Speaking on the proposed Shopping Festival, Hussain Sadique, of SLRA said, “Currently we see an increase in tourist arrivals and there are limited activities in the country to attract shoppers. Tourist visits are usually only limited to historical locations.” He further said that the project’s main objective is to attract visitors from countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Male and other Asian and European countries together with the Middle East. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. Sri Lanka’s documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years.