German Ambassador hails ties

Rasika Somarathna

German-Sri Lanka cultural exchanges has contributed immensely in bridging the gap between the two countries and similar endeavours in the future has great potential to enhance mutual understanding between the two Nations, the new German envoy to Colombo Uwe Jens Ploetner, noted.

"In this regard, the Goethe-Institut which is German's cultural window to the world has done a commendable service in Sri Lanka for the past 52 years.

It has been one of the cornerstones in relations between the two countries, the new Ambassador said while accepting their warm welcome on Saturday.

The Goethe-Institut organized an open day with a diversified program at the German Cultural Centre to welcome the new Ambassador. The Ambassador noted that the Goethe-Institut was a window from which the outside world could look in and Germans could look out to the world beyond.

The new Envoy also praised the facilities available for students at Goethe-Institut which provides education opportunities for more than 1,000 students in nearly 80 varied study programs.

The Ambassador also had a word of praise for the Partner-Schools program where chosen Schools are being supported to by the Goethe including help for students to learn German language.

The open day program on Saturdays saw the participants getting the opportunity to join free trial German classes, get extensive information about language courses, mingle with students and pupils of PASCH-schools, speak to members of the GAASL (German Alumni Association of Sri Lanka) about their experiences in Germany, participate in different entertainment program and draws, take part in a guided tour of our library, taste German food and watch films screened throughout the day.