President of Sri Lanka

Play a more multi-faceted role- President tells heads of mission abroad
October 04, 2006- 1.30 GMT

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called on Sri Lankan heads of missions abroad to work more towards helping promote Sri Lanka in the countries they are based. He also asked them to play a more multi-faceted role to help Sri Lanka face the challenges of today’s world, specially in the economic front and to provide information useful to the country’s armed forces in battle with terrorists. The President was speaking at the inauguration of a three-day workshop organized by the Foreign Ministry for Sri Lankan diplomats abroad, held in Colombo.
President Rajapaksa asked the diplomats to study the Mahinda Chintana and work towards its implementation and said it was essential for any Sri Lankan diplomatic officer to have complete knowledge of their mother tongue and a deep love for their country. “We have allocated nearly Rs. 4.5 billion from our budget to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Of this about Rs. 3.2 billion goes for the running of our missions abroad. This includes your salaries, other allowances, payments to your staff and other perks and privileges. It is necessary to consider whether we obtain the full benefit of the money expended on every foreign mission, which is to judge this from a Value for Money concept”, said the President, who stressed that envoys were not posted abroad merely to attend cocktails or to educate their children. Full text of the speech >>

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