• Your Excellency Mr. Tejendra Khanna, Hon. Lt. Governor of Delhi,
• Your Excellencies, Dean and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
• President and members of the Honorary Consular Corps-Diplomatique – India
• Directors and members of the World Federation of Consuls,
• Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I am deeply honoured to be here and be part of the First FICAC South Asia Regional Consular Conference, and I thank you Hon. Kartar Bhalla for that kind and warm introduction.

The Honourable Arnold Foote OJ, President, World Federation of Consuls.I cannot find enough words to describe the graciousness and hospitality that we have all received from we arrived here in beautiful New Delhi. Thank you very much. The Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique – India, the organizer of this historic event, is a very important member of our Federation and has played an integral part in its development. They have done a marvelous job, and I would like to congratulate and thank the President of the Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique – India, Hon Vivek Burman, the Secretary General of the Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique – India and Director of FICAC, Hon. K. L. Ganju, the Chairman of the FICAC South Asia Region and Director of FICAC, Hon. Kartar Bhalla, and all the members of the Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique – India, for the excellent work done in making this event possible.

When I look at this conference room, I have to mention that the setting is beautiful, the atmosphere is wonderful and the attendance is excellent. Thank you again gentlemen. You have done our Federation proud.

I would like now, to briefly tell you about our Federation.

The World Federation of Consuls was established in Copenhagen in October 1982. FICAC was born out of the necessity to bring together Consular Corps and Consular Associations to share experiences and coordinate efforts to enhance the effectiveness and status of the Consul, the oldest institution serving international bilateral relations.

The World Federation of Consuls is incorporated in Belgium by Royal Decree as a Non-Profit International Organization, and our Federation’s Permanent Secretariat is located in Brussels Belgium at 246 Avenue de Tervuren.

Our Federation aims to:

• Promote and strengthen mutual understanding between Honorary Consuls and Career Consuls worldwide;
• Develop a framework and basis for exchange of current information, ideas and suggestions, regarding matters related to the office of Honorary Consul;
• Promote at national and international levels for a better understanding of duties and responsibilities, rights and privileges of Honorary Consuls;
• It is of critical importance for you to know that we abstain from all religious or political activities and from the practice of any discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, colour, religion or other such grounds.

In 2006, when I was elected President of the World Federation of Consuls for the first time, I made a pledge to change the centre of influence of our Federation from Europe, to be more inclusive towards Asia, Africa and the Americas.
From Left; Hon. Nand Khemka, Mrs. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament of India Dr. Shashi Tharoor, being presented with a book on “Beautiful Jamaica”, Mrs. Arnold Foote, Mrs. Nand Khemka, Hon. Arnold Foote OJ.
I am pleased to say that I have kept that promise and today, our Federation has organizations in every region of the World.

We have established the following FICAC Regions:

• East Asia – Chairman, Hon. Vince Carlos of the Philippines
• South Asia – Chairman, Hon. Kartar Bhalla of India
• South America – Chairman, Hon. Lamartine Hollanda Jr. of Brazil
• Central America – Chairman, Hon. Eric Coufal of Mexico
• North America – Chairman, Hon. Paulina Biggs Sparkuhl of USA
• Caribbean – Chairman, Hon. Rosendo Alvarez of the Dominican Republic
• East Europe – Chairman, Hon. Marko Smole of Slovenia
• South Europe – Chairman, Hon. Nikolaos Margaropoulos of Greece
• West Europe – Chairman, Hon. Count Niccolo Caissotti di Chiusano of Monaco
• North Europe – Chairman, Hon. Aykut Eken of Turkey
• Middle East – Chairman, Hon. Khaled Miqdadi of Jordan
• West Africa – Chairman, Hon. Dimitri Avraam of Ghana
• North and South Africa – Chairman, Hon. Amarkai Amarteifio, Vice President of FICAC The FICAC Regions are based on the United Nations categorization.

Committees have been set up to deal with specific issues of our Federation. Each Committee has been defined as to its purpose and how it is expected to operate.
Our Committees include Trade Development, Membership, Legal, Education, Consular Privileges Protection, International Relations, Public Relations, Cultural Exchange, FICAC Regional Forums, Environment and Climate Change, Vienna Convention Review, Advisory Committee and FICAC/UNICEF, our humanitarian outreach programme. This programme is designed to raise funds to benefit underprivileged children with HIV/AIDS. Our slogan for our outreach activity is “Consuls turning Caring into Action”.

Some of our other achievements include the following;

• Our education programme with Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Strategiques in Paris
• FICAC educational workshops have already been introduced
• Our International Trade Expos and Trade Fairs which achieved huge success in several countries
• The FICAC/UNICEF agreement
• The FICAC Consular Privileges Protection Committee
• The FICAC website www.ficacworld.org
• The FICAC News publication
• The first FICAC Who’s Who publication
• The FICAC 25th Anniversary program which brought the membership closer together and increased the membership considerably
• The World Federation of Consuls has United Nations recognition as an NGO with ECOSOC Status. Our Federation has similar recognition at the European Union and is also recognized by the Organization of American States
• The FICAC Regional Consular Conferences
• The FICAC Gold Star presented only to distinguished world leaders. Several such presentations have already been made.
• The FICAC Medal of Honour to give recognition to Consuls who have made excellent contributions in their Receiving States
• The FICAC Regional Forums programme, recently launched in the beautiful conference room at the European Union with the FICAC European Forum
• The FICAC International Cultural Galas. These galas allow Consulates and Embassies to present the cultural programmes of the countries that they represent to the people of the Receiving State free of cost, giving persons who cannot afford to travel an opportunity to experience the cultures of other countries.
• Our membership programme is having excellent results and I recently had the honour and privilege to attend the official inauguration of the Forum of Consuls of Bangladesh. It was an excellent event in the presence of His Excellency, Hon. Mohammed Zillur Rahman, President of Bangladesh.
• On 17th September 2010, the World Federation of Consuls signed a Partnership Agreement with the Prince Albert II Foundation of Monaco. The Foundation, created by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, is very active in the fields of the environment and climate change. Our Federation is honoured and proud to be in partnership with the Prince Albert II Foundation.

Our Federation will always strive to preserve, protect and develop the established and well functioning Consular system operating and acting for the benefit of the Sending and Receiving States.
FICAC President Arnold Foote is seen in the lamp lighting ceremony, part of the official opening of the FICAC South Asia Regional Conference. Also in picture is H. E. Mr. Tejendra Khanna, Lt. Governor of Delhi, and Hon. K. L. Ganju, who also participated in the lighting ceremony.

Mutual respect and adherence to the principles recognized in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 will continue to be used to promote Consular cooperation in each member country.

We will always be responsive to the differing needs of our members. In that process, my administration is exploring on a country to country and regional basis, the issues that concern our membership and will try to address them, and where necessary, strive for official change in the international systems that control our work.
Consular operations can no longer be confined to the issuance of travel documents, and attention to the welfare of the nationals of the countries that we represent, as globalization has altered the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Several countries worldwide are closing their embassies for budgetary reasons and are appointing more Honorary Consuls to serve in countries in which they have business interests.

The role of the Honorary Consul must therefore be expanded to encompass the full range of economic, political and diplomatic relations. This expanded role is particularly important for developing countries and small States which cannot afford global deployment of their foreign service.

It is in this context that Consular representatives must constantly update the theory and practice of the craft, as we become more relevant to the global struggle for peace, security and sustainable development.

A critically important component of peace, democracy and development, is economic growth. In today’s world economy, which is being transformed by a comprehensive process of advanced globalization, international trade is the engine of economic growth, and has assumed an increasingly prominent role in State to State relations.

The development of trade is one of the main functions of the Consul, and its promotion is integral to my administration. The purpose of the FICAC Trade Development Committee is to promote cross border business, trade development and networking amongst members. Its operation is to organize and host Trade Expos, Trade Fairs and trade missions.

The members of the World Federation of Consuls are ideally suited to participate positively in trade promotion activity. Indeed, the Consular Corps has a comparative advantage in undertaking trade promotion, because Consular Corps have a much broader geographic deployment and can therefore provide more extensive coverage than Diplomatic Corps.

This is particularly so for developing countries who are unable to afford diplomatic representation in all the locations in which they have important economic interests.

The Consular Corps has a presence in all major cities, in the centres of commerce and industry, whereas the Diplomatic Corps is concentrated in capital cities, which in several cases are political rather than economic centres.
The Consular Corps include a very high proportion of Consuls with considerable business expertise, and they are ideally suited for developing trade.

The members of our Federation are immersed in communities in ways in which Diplomats cannot be, and their knowledge of local conditions and local products can be useful in identifying niche markets, distribution networks and new tradable goods and services.

International Trade Expos and Trade Fairs have been successfully organized by our members.
Seen above; FICAC President Arnold Foote, presents the Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique – India Award of Excellence to Hon. Ashish Saraf. Looking on are Hon. Kartar Bhalla, Chairman of the FICAC South Asia Region and Hon. Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Director of FICAC.

This programme will also develop better relations between the Diplomatic Corps and the Consular Corps as the Diplomatic Corps involvement in International Trade Expos and the International Cultural Gala is vital to their success.

The FICAC trade programme is unique as it is the only expo in the world that promotes trade directly between the Sending and Receiving States, and at very low cost to the Embassies and Consulates.

Sponsorship from the private sector is easily available because of the importance of this programme at national and international levels. The Consular Corps who have organized the FICAC International Trade Expos and Trade Fairs have made an annual profit from the programme. Members who have made a profit from their trade fairs have presented cheques to UNICEF as their contribution to assisting underprivileged children with HIV/AIDS.

The future lies in the development of fair trade in this region and the rest of the world.

It is important to note that all FICAC member Corps and Associations that have participated in our FICAC programmes have seen their image and status grow considerably. They have also earned the respect of the Governments and in particular the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in both the Sending and Receiving States.

The World Federation of Consuls now has members in over 90 countries and is represented in every region of the world.

We are becoming a strong source of influence worldwide and this development will allow us to perform our duties more efficiently and in doing so, give even better service to the Sending and Receiving States.

I sincerely hope that I have given you an idea of the work of our Federation as we strive to make a meaningful contribution to the world which we inhabit together.

Thank you very much.