Australia’s Foreign Ministry has announced the appointment of Matthew Duckworth as Australia’s next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, said in a statement that Sri Lanka is a key partner for Australia in the Northeast Indian Ocean.
“Our relationship is based on strong community links, our longstanding development partnership, growing trade and investment ties, and our shared commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean Region,” she said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong further said that Australia and Sri Lanka work closely together to find practical solutions to shared regional and global challenges, including transnational crime, regional maritime security and people smuggling.
“Our countries also share strong people-to-people ties, and Australia’s Sri Lankan community of more than 160,000 people makes an important and valued contribution to Australia’s multicultural society,” she said.
Australia’s next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Matthew Duckworth, is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Secretary, United States Trade Taskforce and Deputy Chief Negotiator, Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement. He has previously served overseas in Indonesia and Cambodia. (Newswire)
