Grace Asirwatham presented Credentials to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri at the Grand Ducal Palace as the new Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with concurrent accreditation from Brussels on 13 November 2019.
Following the official ceremony, Ambassador Asirwatham had a private audience with the Grand Duke. During the discussion, the possibilities for stronger economic cooperation taking into account that Luxembourg is a global financial and logistics centre were discussed. Luxembourg is the second richest country in the world in terms of per capita income. The potential to attract more high spending tourists from Luxembourg and prospects for attracting more Foreign Direct Investment were mentioned and it was noted that some Luxembourgish companies have been operating successfully in Sri Lanka. Reference was also made to the recent agreement signed between Cargolux and the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka with a view to commencing air cargo operations.
Grace Asirwatham is a senior career diplomat of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, who is currently Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union. She previously served as State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to The Netherlands and Nepal and Consul General in Bonn. As an international civil servant, she has also held the post of Deputy Director General of the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Jaffna and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Colombo.
