Juergen Weerth appointed as Sri Lanka’s Honorary Consul for North Rhine Westphalia

Juergen Weerth has assumed responsibilities as the new Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka to North Rhine – Westphalia with consular jurisdiction covering the regions of Bergisches Land, Cologne Lowland, Lower Rhine, Münsterland, North Eifel, Ruhr, Sauerland – Siegerland and Teutoburg Forest. On behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Mangala Samaraweera, Ambassador Karunatilaka Amunugama handed over the Commission of Appointment to Juergen Weerth on 18 November at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Berlin. 

After the Sri Lanka Embassy was shifted from Bonn to Berlin in the year 2000, when Berlin was declared the capital of Germany, there has been a vacuum in Sri Lanka’s representation in the North Rhine – Westphalia, where four of Germany’s 10 largest cities, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Essen, are located. The headquarters of some government and other important institutions are still based in the former capital, Bonn.

Weerth has served as the Ambassador of Germany to Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2009. After his return to Germany, he has been actively involved in the Helmut Kohl Foundation to implement projects in Sri Lanka. He serves as a resource person for country – analysis South Asia at the Academy for International Cooperation on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Development Cooperation and is also a board member of the ‘Kindernothilfe’, an organisation in charge of projects in 31 countries worldwide including Sri Lanka.

The contact details of the newly established Honorary Consulate are as follows; Address: Maubisstraße 44, 41564 Kaarst, Germany, telephone no: (+49) 02131-2056963, mobile: (+49) 01577-71423783 and email: [email protected].