The Swiss Embassy marked its 60th anniversary in Sri Lanka by holding a press conference at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall to celebrate the history of the countries’ bilateral relations and look to the future to build on the relations. Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn, after noting that Switzerland has maintained a consular presence on the island for 100 years, invited the local community to take part in a Swiss food festival to be held at the Mount Lavinia Hotel from August 2 to 7. The Ambassador also reflected on the strength of the nations’ diplomatic ties while praising the new administration. “The government is following a comprehensive transition focusing on democracy, reconciliation and development. Switzerland supports this,” he said. “After the war, the root causes of the conflict were not really addressed. The new government’s mission is to address these,” he said. While describing the support Switzerland has extended to Sri Lanka as investment, the Ambassador said: “We are interested in having relationships with stable countries. We can do good business with such countries.” The Swiss, after the war, built thousands of homes for the displaced in Trincomalee, Matara, and other districts. While he talking about the Sri Lankan Politics he said delegation of power to state system is not to divide a country, this system will solve the problems of the country.
