President Dr Julius Maada Bio has received letters of credence from four accredited diplomats to the Republic of Sierra Leone during a formal presentation ceremony, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Alhaji Timothy Musa Kabba.
His Excellency Angel Antonio Carrascal Guitierrez, Ambassador of Spain; His Excellency Alberto Efrain Castelar Padilla, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Her Excellency Ursula Fahringer, Ambassador of Austria; and His Excellency Kana V. Kananathan, High Commissioner of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka have today completed the process.
President Bio congratulated the new heads of missions on their appointments and formally welcomed them on behalf of his government and the people of Sierra Leone. He assured them of continued peace and stability and discussed his government’s passion for and achievements in human capital development during his first five years.
He expressed optimism that with their coming, as the new heads of missions for their respective countries, the bilateral relationship between them would be deepened, widened and fruitful. He assured of his government’s open-door policy for all forms of investment and assured of a business climate that would protect investments and investors’ money in Sierra Leone.
The President also spoke about his commitment to fighting human trafficking by creating at least 600,000 jobs for young people through the Feed Salone initiative, while encouraging potential investors to explore the agricultural sector with high consideration for the country’s rich vegetation and soil. He reminded the Ambassadors and High Commissioner that Sierra Leone was an ambitious country that wanted to develop its human capital for the attainment of sustainable development.
He encouraged them to take advantage of the already existing political will in Sierra Leone by bringing tangible investment into the country and stressed the fact that his government was looking forward to stronger bilateral relations that would benefit both governments and their people.
President Julius Maada Bio later proposed a toast to the health and beautiful relationship between the Republic of Sierra Leone and the four countries. The new heads of missions responded to the toast and assured of their continued support for Sierra Leone’s government’s human capital development – agriculture, health, energy, and tourism, but also to strengthen the mutually beneficial relations.
The four Ambassadors and High Commissioner expressed appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded them by the President and for accepting their letters of credence, mentioning how honoured they were to present their letters.