| Azlan Othman |
COMMONWEALTH Secretary-General Patricia Scotland is set to embark on her first official visits to three Commonwealth member countries, including Brunei Darussalam, next week.
The 11-day tour will also see Scotland making stops at Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, according to the Commonwealth website on Tuesday.
In all three countries, the Commonwealth Secretary-General will hold discussions with heads of government, ministers and other public figures on the priorities and commitments agreed upon during the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London back in April, as well as their strategic implementation.
During her time in Brunei Darussalam, among other engagements, the Commonwealth Secretary-General will deliver a public lecture at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), in which she is expected to acknowledge the significant contribution Brunei has made towards its relationship with the Commonwealth, such as the offering of the Commonwealth Third-Country Training Programme to assist in building the capacities of island nation member states of the Commonwealth in the Pacific.
In Sri Lanka, she will discuss ways in which the country can work even more closely within a Commonwealth context on issues related to trade, connectivity and other national priorities.
She will then visit Bangladesh and take part in a programme which will include delivering an address to the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) carrying the theme ‘The Commonwealth Advantage – progress and potential’.
“Sri Lanka, Brunei and Bangladesh are greatly valued members of the Commonwealth family,” the Commonwealth Secretary-General said ahead of her trip.
“I look forward to acquainting myself more closely with the many encouraging and positive developments taking place in the region, and with challenges which the convening power of the Commonwealth can help to tackle.
“Next year, Sri Lanka will host the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting. This will again be an opportunity to share the best legal practices from all of our diverse Commonwealth family in order to improve access to justice for all our citizens.”