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Throughout its millennial history, foreign travelers have been attracted to Sri Lanka by its amazing natural beauty, verdant vegetation, pristine sunny beaches, its cultural inheritance, the majesty and splendor of its cultural pageants, as well as friendliness and hospitality of its people says Mrs. Monique De Decker-Deprez, Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Belgium at the Second South Asia Regional Conference of FICAC (World Federation of Consuls)

which was held from 11 -14, August, 2013 in Colombo- Sri Lanka

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Second South Asia Regional Conference of FICAC (World Federation of Consuls)
11 -14, August, 2013 in COLOMBO-SRI LANKA

Experience of Functioning as an Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka
Address by Mrs. Monique De Decker-Deprez
Sri Lanka Honorary Consul in Belgium
Vice- President of the Belgian Consular Union
August 12, 2013

Your Excellencies,
Hon. Arnold Foote, President of FICAC
Members of the World Federation of Consuls
Dear Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am deeply honored at the invitation to share my experience in functioning as Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Belgium, at this Conference.

I have had the privilege of serving as the Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Belgium since 1997.
However, I must point out that my links with Sri Lanka and its people pre-date my appointment as Honorary Consul. I have had the pleasure of visiting more than 80 times, this beautiful country and interacting with its wonderful people. These visits include both private as well as those related to participation in official functions or events. Even during private visits I have taken time off to renew contacts with Ministers, officials as well as members of business community and civil society.

I can proudly say that I am very familiar with most parts of the country due to my frequent visits during which I travelled extensively with my late husband. The visits provided me invaluable opportunity to gain profound knowledge of the country and its people and keep abreast of developments. This has helped me immensely in the performance of my duties as Honorary Consul.

Over the years I have been able to build very close and enduring friendships with the people of Sri Lanka and with the Sri Lankan Community in Belgium from different walks of life. As friends we have shared our moments of joy, we have supported each other at times of sorrow or pain.

Such wonderful enduring friendships that I have maintained with Sri Lankans are a great experience that I wish to highlight at the outset.

There is something else in my experience that I wish to focus on.

During my long association with Sri Lanka both at the official and unofficial level, I have been received warmly, openly and freely. I have had the privilege to be received on several occasions by the Ministers of External Affairs, Late Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Late Hon.Tyronne Fernando, Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, and the present Minister the Hon. Professor G.L. Peiris.
The brutal assassination of Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by terrorists in 2005 was a tragedy I personally felt.

After meeting the former Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament, the late Hon. K.B. Ratnayake during his visit to Brussels for IPU session in 1999, the respected senior parliamentarian received me several times in Sri Lanka and showed manifold courtesies and kindnesses. His passing away in 2004 touched me once again as a sad personal loss.

My appointment as Honorary Consul in 1997, added an important official dimension to my long-standing multifaceted links with Sri Lanka. I consider this as a clear recognition of my modest contribution in an informal and unofficial manner to strengthen friendly relations between our two countries. It is evident that the longstanding informal contacts I had established were a strong foundation to build my capacity to discharge responsibilities flowing from assuming position as Honorary Consul. The two aspects are mutually reinforcing. I am confident that such longstanding friendships will continue to grow and prosper even after completion of my present assignment.

Throughout its millennial history, foreign travelers have been attracted to Sri Lanka by its amazing natural beauty, verdant vegetation, pristine sunny beaches, its cultural inheritance, the majesty and splendor of its cultural pageants, as well as friendliness and hospitality of its people. These are not merely outworn clichés from tourist brochures but something I personally experienced over and over again on my frequent visits to this country. I am certain that those of you, who have been here before would have had the same experience and those who are here for the first time would concur with me before long.

My most enduring experience of the country is the resilience of its people, institutions and economy in spite of the vicissitudes in its recent history. Even during times of violence, I continued to make my visits to Sri Lanka. Instinctively, I felt safe and not in any particular danger. Now that peace has returned to this country, it is my fervent hope the Sri Lankan people will continue in their forward march to prosperity.

It goes without saying that we Honorary Consuls have multiple identities arising from our respective nationality, domicile, business relations with the country/ region of jurisdiction, humanitarian or charity work, visits, friendships etc. Different combinations of these elements define our respective composite identities and influence our functioning as Honorary Consul.

First and foremost, I am a citizen of Belgium, which is one of the founding Member States of the EU and Brussels is the seat of most important European Institutions.

Developing and maintaining close relations across the entire spectrum of the Belgian society, including political, economic, civil society, media etc is a fundamental pre-requisite to discharging my responsibilities as Honorary Consul.

I have been able to maintain very close relations with the Embassy of Sri Lanka. All Ambassadors who served in Brussels continue to be personal friends even after completing their official duties.

It is to my humble satisfaction that working closely with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels and the Sri Lanka authorities we have been able to promote and defend the interests of Sri Lanka in Belgium and achieve some notable successes in exchange of visits, trade delegations, promotion of tourism, participation in Colombo Expo etc.

In addition, I can say that there has always been a close collaboration with my Colleague, the Honorary Consul for Belgium in Colombo.

In this context, I should like to mention the highly successful visit undertaken in 2000 by a group of Belgian Parliamentarians which included Belgian Ministers of State and former Prime Ministers, among them the Hon. Herman Van Rompuy who is currently serving as the President of the European Council.

During the EXPO 2012 in Colombo, I had the honor and the privilege of meeting His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

It has been my privilege to serve as a co-initiator of the Agreement on Maritime Transport between Belgium and Sri Lanka signed in 2003.

During the natural disasters such as the Tsunami in 2004 Belgium contributed his share in bringing relief to the affected people in Sri Lanka.

I deeply cherish the National Honour “Sri Lanka Ranjana” graciously conferred on me by H.E. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 2005. I consider it to be a further demonstration of the recognition accorded at the highest level to my modest contributions to strengthening Sri Lanka-Belgian relations. It has been an added source of inspiration in my life-long mission to expand and deepen the friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

I spoke about my Belgian identity and roots and its relevance to my functions as Honorary Consul.
As the seat of major EU Institutions, Brussels is described rightly as the ‘Capital of Europe’.
Brussels is also home to NATO Head Quarters. Apart from Diplomatic and Consular Representation to Belgium, there is a whole range of Representations to European Institutions, NATO – Members, Observers, and Non-members. Naturally, there is also a significant presence of Think-tanks, Lobby groups and Media.

I have always approached my role as Honorary Consul not within the narrow definition of my position but in the context of the broader political, diplomatic environment of the country and region. With this objective in mind, I have tried to maintain contacts with the relevant actors in this broader European context.

In these concentric circles of identity, I am first of all part of the Belgian Consular community and its organization, the Belgian Consular Union (BCU) of which I am privileged to hold at present the position of Vice-President. Along with my colleague Mr. François Piers, Consul for Tunisia, Board Member of the BCU and FICAC present here today, we would like to take this opportunity to bring cordial greetings and good wishes from the President of the BCU, for the success of this Regional Conference.

In the next circle of identity, the BCU is member of the World Federation of Consuls since 20 years.

I myself attended the 10th World Congress of FICAC held in Monaco in November 2012 as member of the BCU delegation. The Monaco World Congress is of special significance to me personally. At this Congress, I have had the privilege of being appointed “Honorary Member of FICAC” by its President the Hon. Arnold Foote. I should like to express my profound gratitude to FICAC and its President.

Let me conclude my brief intervention with a final thought.
We Honorary Consuls can enhance our capacity to perform our functions, by building on the foundations of identities that surround us in concentric circles.
Intensifying our collaboration at the national, regional and international level is an integral part of our efforts.

I thank you for your attention.