December 14, 2017 | 17:59 (GMT+7)
Vietnam’s ambassador elected Colombo Plan’s Secretary General
Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Phan Kieu Thu was elected the seventh Secretary General of the Colombo Plan on December 12.
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Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Phan Kieu Thu (L) and
President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena. Photo: colombopage.com
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The Colombo Plan for Cooperative
Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific was
initiated by the UK at the Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs in
Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in January 1950 and was launched on July
1, 1951 as a cooperative venture for economic and social advancement of the
peoples of South and Southeast Asia.
The Colombo Plan aims to help its member
countries promote socio-economic development, poverty reduction, environmental
protection and gender equality.
With 27 official members, the plan is a
forum for discussing development needs, sharing experience, implementing
programs for stronger socio-economic development and supporting less developed
countries in the region.
Colombo Plan mainly operates through organizing
training courses, helping its member nations develop human resources. It now
runs four training programs including the Drug Advisory Program (DAP), the
Program for Public Administration & Environment (PPA & ENV), the
Program for Private Sector Development (PPSD) and the Long-Term Scholarships
Program (LTSP).
Since its official membership of the organization
in 2003, Vietnam has sent nearly 400 officials to attend training courses
within the Colombo Plan’s cooperation programs, in the fields of drug
prevention, public administration, reproductive health, and environmental
protection.
Source: VNA