Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers gave approval for the country to host the 60th Session and Ministerial Meeting of the International Coconut Community in November 2024.

The objective of hosting the massive conference in Colombo is to achieve the objectives of increasing foreign exchange earnings, promoting the Sri Lankan coconut industry among member countries and improving cooperation between key stakeholders in the coconut sector.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries to hold the said session and ministerial meeting in Colombo in November this year using the income earned by the Coconut Development Authority and the contribution of several private institutions in the coconut sector.

The International Coconut Community (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization of coconut producing countries organized in 1969 under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). The ICC Secretariat is located in Jakarta, Indonesia and is headed by an Executive Director.

ICC currently has 21 coconut producing member countries accounting for over 90 percent of world coconut production and exports of coconut products.

The ICC member countries include eight Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor Leste, nine Pacific countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, one Caribbean country: Jamaica, two African countries: Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire and one country in South America: Guyana.