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Ambassador Robert Blake’s remarks at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S.-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission and the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF).

December 13, 2007, at the U.S.-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission.

Mr. Ajit Dias, Chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, Mr. Mahesh Amalean, Chairman of MAS Holdings, Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, Executive Director of the U.S. Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission, Mr. Terry White, ladies and gentlemen, let me add my own words of welcome to all of you on this important occasion to mark the signing of an MOU between the Joint Apparel Association forum and the Fulbright Commission.

As the Honorary Chairman of the U.S.-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission, I am very pleased that the Commission has entered into a collaborative venture with JAAF to promote further the mutual academic exchange program between our two nations.

Since I arrived in Sri Lanka as ambassador 15 months ago, I have made it a high priority to see that the ties between the U.S. and Sri Lanka in the field of education are enhanced and expanded, particularly at the university level.  That means more students and more faculty studying and teaching in each other’s country and increased institutional linkages.   My dream is to see the day when an American university sets up shop here in Sri Lanka and my colleagues and I will continue to work toward that goal.

I want to thank both of the institutions who signed today’s agreement.  The Fulbright Commission has long played a unique and crucial role in building bilateral academic and people to people ties between our two countries, and this agreement will significantly enhance its ability to do that to everyone’s benefit.

I also want to salute JAAF’s partnership and contribution.  Many of you know that the U.S. Agency for International Development has a separate partnership with JAAF to build vocational training centers in the southern and eastern parts of this country.   By collaborating through this new partnership with the Fulbright Commission to deepen further the Fulbright educational exchange program, JAAF will not only be able to improve and upgrade the skills and knowledge of those connected with the textile and apparel industry of Sri Lanka, but also be able to assist in the larger task of promoting mutual understanding between our two societies.

With the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding today, the Fulbright Commission and JAAF will soon begin to jointly sponsor Fulbright-JAAF fellowships in the U.S. and Sri Lanka. Under the proposed Fulbright-JAAF Fellowship Program, professionals within the textile and apparel industry of Sri Lanka will receive awards to gain further training in the U.S., and U.S. scholars and professionals, will study, teach, train and build capacity of staff in the textile and apparel industry of Sri Lanka.

JAAF, as we know, came into existence in November 2002 as the apex body of all Sri Lankan Textile and Apparel Associations to meet the challenges to the Textile and Apparel Industry of Sri Lanka brought on by the phasing out of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA).  As it happens, that was the same month and year that the Fulbright Commission (previously known as the U.S. Education Foundation in Ceylon/Sri Lanka) celebrated its 50th year of existence.  Maybe you were destined to work together!

The mandate of the U.S.-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission is the furtherance of mutual academic exchange between our two countries, with the primary purpose of promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and the peoples of Sri Lanka. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. Government’s flagship exchange program, was founded by the late Senator J. William Fulbright.  Raised and having received his initial education in the mostly rural southern state of Arkansas, with little exposure to the wider world during his youth, the young Fulbright had never seen a major American city before he received a Rhodes Scholarship in 1925 to study in England.  His three-year experience at Oxford University and his travels in Europe had a profound influence, convincing him about the importance of seeing the world from the points of view of other peoples and nations.

This conviction found lasting expression in 1945 when, as a freshman U.S. senator from Arkansas, he sponsored legislation establishing the exchange program which bears his name. At that time, Fulbright saw a world devastated by World War II and awed by its newly acquired atomic power. As the famous physicist Albert Einstein had warned: 'We must acquire a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive'. Remembering his overseas experience, the young senator from a then-underdeveloped state reasoned that people and nations had to learn to think globally for the world to live in peace.

Fulbright wisely believed that if large numbers of people lived and studied in other countries, "they might,” as he put it, “develop a capacity for empathy, a distaste for killing other men, and an inclination for peace".

Further legislation in 1961 provided additional underpinnings of the Fulbright academic exchange program and remains the basic charter for all U.S. Government-sponsored educational and cultural exchanges.

Since its inception 55 years ago, the U.S.-Sri Lankan Fulbright Commission has excelled in its task of building bridges of understanding between Americans and Sri Lankans in the last 55 years. During this period almost a thousand citizens of both countries have visited each other's country to study, teach and learn about each other's ways and manners.  Among just a few of the illustrious Sri Lankan professionals who have been the recipients of Fulbright, Humphrey or East-West Center fellowships, which the Commission also administers, are Professors K.M. de Silva, Gananath and Ranjini Obeyesekere, Ashley Halpe, J.B. Disanayake, Vishva Warnapala, Ryhana Raheem, Deepika Udagama, Jayadeva Uyangoda, Walter Prera, Sinharaja Tammita-Delgoda and such public servants as Bradman Weerakoon and Lalith Weeratunga.  Sri Lanka's first female Supreme Court judge, Shirani Bandaranayake, is also a Fulbright scholar.  These and many other distinguished alumni lend additional honor to Senator Fulbright’s legacy.

In conclusion, let me again congratulate the Commission and JAAF on this happy occasion for the leadership they have shown and for coming together to work for the greater good of our two nations.

Thank you.