(Picture Courtesy: Times of Georgia)
Staff Reporter
Wellington, August 8, 2021
Foreign Ministers of New Zealand and Sri Lanka Nanaia Mahuta and Dinesh Gunawardena have welcomed the opening of the New Zealand High Commission in Colombo this week.
The Ministers, who met virtually on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, described the opening of the High Commission as a major milestone in bilateral relationship between the two countries.
They said that New Zealand’s diplomatic presence in Sri Lanka is a further affirmation of the significance of the steadily expanding bilateral engagement in recent times.
The Colombo Plan
Ms Mahuta said that New Zealanders and Sri Lankans have been good friends for over 70 years and that New Zealand had committed to the Colombo Plan in 1950.
“Sri Lanka and New Zealand have a lot in common, as diverse, island nations making our way in a complex geostrategic world. The opening of our High Commission in Colombo is a signal of New Zealand’s long-term commitment to Sri Lanka, in realms as varied as the strategic, economic, educational, cultural, sporting and people-to-people,” she said.
The Colombo Plan is a regional organisation of 27 countries designed to strengthen economic and social development of member countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It was established by Britain in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1950.
The Columbo Plan was mooted by Indian diplomat, statesman, professor, Newspaper Editor, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar popularly known as Sardar K M Panikkar to promote economic and social development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The primary focus of the work of Colombo Plan is on the development of human resources in the region. Aid to education 1950 to 1983 came to US$72 billion, of which US$41 billion came from the United States.
Large potential
Ms Mahuta said that there is still a lot of potential to realise in the two-way relationship, and that the new High Commission will help promote better relations.
Mr Gunawardena said that the opening of the High Commission is a timely move since the two countries work together in a geo-strategically more complex region.
He said that he was confident that it would contribute to the advancement of bilateral trade and promote investments.
“Sri Lanka stands for and encourages safe, orderly and regular migration, and welcomes potential investors and tourists from New Zealand,” Mr Gunawardena said.
Historic relationship
He also recalled the history of close bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the visit to Sri Lanka of New Zealand Prime Minister Walter Nash during the tenure of Minister’s Gunawardena’s late father Philip Gunawardena as Minister of Agriculture and Food in 1958. Prime Minister Nash’s visit featured the opening of the National Milk Board and the Dental Training Institute funded by the New Zealand Government under the Colombo Plan.
Ms Mahuta and Gunawardena also discussed the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers Meeting held on Friday August 6, 2021.
The New Zealand High Commission in Colombo is due to open on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. An official opening ceremony will take place in due course.
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