Sri Lankan receives Queen’s Birthday Honours in New Zealand
Sri Lanka’s Honorary Consul in New Zealand, Aruna Abeygoonesekera, has just been awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), an order of chivalry in New Zealand’s honours system established in 1996 by Queen Elizabeth II. The award was announced as part of the annual Queen’s Birthday honours. Mr. Abeygoonesekera received his award for services to New Zealand – Sri Lanka relations and the Sri Lankan community.
Mr. Abeygoonesekera is a prominent member of the Sri Lankan community in New Zealand and is a former President of the New Zealand Sri Lanka Friendship Society in Wellington. Since his appointment as Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in 2007, he has established good working relationships with the New Zealand government, and assisted in the promotion of trade and economic relations between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Mr. Abeygoonesekera has enhanced the diplomatic relationship between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and was instrumental in the recent gifting of an elephant from the Sri Lankan Government to the Auckland Zoo. He has hosted Ministerial delegations from both countries that have resulted in partnerships being formed in the dairy, tea, and education sectors, and the establishment of the Sri Lanka New Zealand Business Council in 2010.
As part of his role as Honorary Consul, Mr. Abeygoonesekera has helped support the affairs of the large Sri Lankan community in New Zealand. He has also worked to promote reconciliation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka, engaging Sri Lankans from different backgrounds and encouraging them to contribute to their motherland. Since 2009, Mr. Abeygoonesekera has also organised an annual Independence Day function in Wellington that is attended by diplomats, parliamentarians and officials in addition to members of the Sri Lankan expatriate community. He has also worked to support and celebrate the arts and ethnic and cultural diversity in New Zealand.
Mr.Abeygoonesekera works for the Ministry of Social Development and has held financial and strategic roles in that sector for almost 20 years.