The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has a new Honorary consul to Solomon Islands.
He is Mr. Kutila Pinto.
On 5th December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) Hon. Milner Tozaka formally accepted the appointment by officially presenting to Mr. Kutila Pinto the instrument of Exequatur in compliance with Article 11 of the Vienna Convention on consular relations.
Minister Tozaka congratulated Mr. Pinto’s appointment saying that Solomon Islands looks to cooperate with Sri Lanka on issues of trade, investment, climate change, disaster management, sports, people-to-people diplomacy and regional security.
“Being the second formal diplomatic representative of Sri Lanka in Honiara since diplomatic ties were established on the 3rd of July, 2013; I laud both countries on seeking to improve relations through your appointment.
“Mr. Pinto, our countries being members of the commonwealth, I believe that it is necessary to not only strive to strengthen bilateral and multilateral collaboration, but also share our development experiences.
“Furthermore, I encourage you to keep the line of dialogue between our countries open,” Minister Tozaka said in his remarks.
Mr. Kutila Pinto is also currently the Executive Director of Pan Oceanic Bank and he has an extensive experience in different industry sectors, local and international markets and cultures.
In thanking Minister Tozaka, Mr. Pinto said that he will be working towards procuring necessary skills, technical assistance and potential business investment from Sri Lanka with the assistance of his High Commission in Canberra to develop a framework to work on the areas if tourism development, development in Coconut and related industries and enhancing technical and skill sets of Solomon islander who are interested in becoming Banking and Finance professionals.
“I also take this opportunity to thank you the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MAFET) Hon. Milner Tozaka for you support and continuous development of Diplomatic relationship with Sri Lanka,” Mr. Pinto said.