Brazilian Embassy opens in Colombo

An interim office for the newly established Brazilian Embassy in Colombo has been set up at the JAIC Hilton Residency.

The official flag raising ceremony for the new office took place on Tuesday.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs T.V. Maduwegedera, Brazilian Charg‚ d'Affaires, Antonio Cottas de Jesus Freitas, present and former Sri Lankan Ambassadors to Brasilia, General Shantha Kottegoda, and General Rohan Daluwatte and Chancellery Assistant, Wellington Alves de Abreu participated in the event.

Honorary Consul for Brazil in Sri Lanka, Jennifer Moragoda was also present. The Government of Brazil had originally set up an embassy in Sri Lanka in the early Sixties, which unfortunately was closed in 1969.

In recognition of the growing importance of Sri Lanka-Brazil relations, President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva, on the advice of the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, took the decision to re-establish its mission here.

The new Ambassador Pedro Henrique Lopes Borio, is scheduled to arrive in the end of January.

The Honorary Consulate will continue to operate and to work in close cooperation with the reopened Embassy.