The President of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa, seen above receiving the FICAC Meritorious Medal of Distinction from the President of the World Federation of Consuls, The Honourable Arnold Foote OJ, at a reception held at the Presidential Palace recently. Also present from left; the Minister of External Affairs, H. E. Professor G. L. Peiris, Hon. Kartar Bhalla, Chairman of FICAC South Asia Region, Hon. K. L. Ganju, FICAC Director and Dr. Ganju, and Hon. Daya Weththasinghe, President of the Association of Consuls in Sri Lanka.

Let me first thank the Honorable Chairman of the Organising Committee of this conference, Mr. Daya Wettasinghe, and all committee members for their commitment and valuable support in the preparation of this event in Sri Lanka.

I cannot say enough about the graciousness and the hospitality that we have all received from we arrived here in beautiful Sri Lanka. Thank you very much. The Association of Consuls in Sri Lanka, the host of this event…

As we all know, in accordance with the Vienna Convention, career consuls are state officials, and honorary consuls who represent a foreign country in their native country, they are handpicked individuals of high reputation and are called upon to perform various duties entrusted to them…

I am overwhelmed by the compliments paid by Hon. Arnold Foote while awarding me the Medal of Distinction, a unique honour conferred on an honorary consul. It was he who spotted me at the end of Montego Bay World Congress of Consuls in 2006…

H.E. Tomislav Nikolić, President of the Republic of Serbia, receives the Gold Star at the Presidential Palace from FICAC President Hon. Arnold Foote O.J., C.D., J.P. Also present (from left), Hon. Rajko Maric, fmr. President of the Serbian Consular Corps; Hon. (Mrs.) Ann Pesic, President of the Serbian Consular Corps; Hon. Kostas Lefkaritis, FICAC Vice President; Hon. Aykut Eken, FICAC Secretary General; and members of the Serbian President’s Diplomatic Office.

Mr. President, on behalf of the Directors and members of the World Federation of Consuls, I would like to thank you most sincerely for receiving us this afternoon. This is a great honour and it is much appreciated.

I am humbled and deeply appreciative that H. E. The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Ivica Dačić, has discerned the importance of this occasion and taken the time to add his presence to declare our 1st South East Europe Regional Consular Conference officially open.

FICAC, the World Federation of Consuls, was founded in Copenhagen on 2 October 1982 by a small group of visionaries led by Consul General Vagn Jespersen of Denmark. Countries present at the meeting and first signatories were Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

On 24 April 2013, FICAC celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Vienna Convention with a reception held in the United Nations Plaza in New York City. The event was attended by 75 country representatives including the President of the UN General Assembly…