I am very pleased to address you on this very important day. This day marks a milestone in the growth of the World Federation of Consuls and the planting of its concept and ideals on the very fertile soil of Africa.

Honorary consuls now exist in almost every country in the world. They are emerging as significant components of diplomatic power in the scheme of traditional diplomacy exercised from embassies.

Elmina Castle, erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as a first European trading post in West Africa soon after became a major site of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

President Ahtisaari, the keynote speaker at the dinner, was welcomed and introduced by the Dean of the Consular Corps of Helsinki, Hon. Harry Berner. He described the President as a very good friend of his and said that he was very pleased to be able to welcome…

I am deeply honoured to be here with you today at the first FICAC Helsinki Consular Conference. This is the first time that my wife and I are visiting your beautiful country and we are very impressed with its beauty and with the excellent hospitality that we have received.

I am very pleased to be with you at this luncheon in honour of President Abdullah Gul in Izmir, the pearl of Aegean.

“The business of a leader is to turn weakness into strength, Obstacles into stepping stones, and Disaster into triumph!” A man of experience, a staunch democrat and a convinced European! A leader par excellence!

The keynote speaker at the opening of the FICAC Helsinki Consular Conference was Minister Pertti Salolainen, former Deputy Prime Minister and Ambassador to Great Britain, and the current Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee in the Finnish Parliament.

The Consular Corps of Brazil commemorated the inaugural Consuls’ Day in Pernambuco with a Dinner on August 6, 2008 at the Hotel Manibu, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.