World Federation of Consuls Honours Founding President

First President of the World Federation of Consuls (FICAC), Vagn Jespersen, was yesterday (Nov. 7) recognised for his sterling contribution to the formation and promotion of the organisation to a position of prominence world-wide.
He was among five stalwarts, including two other past presidents of the FICAC, who were honoured during the 8th World Congress of Consuls now underway at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay.
The other honourees were: Andreas Mavrommatis, Honorary Consul General of Indonesia in Cyprus, who was president of FICAC from 1995-2000; Peter Gad Naschitz, Honorary Consul General of Iceland in Israel, who served as president from 2000-2003; Helga Mensing, Dean of the Consular Corps of Curacao and Chris Sicolas, President of the Consular Corps of Greece.
Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Professor Kenneth Hall, presented a special award of excellence to Jesper Jespersen on behalf of his father, who was unable to attend the function.In a citation read by Dean of the Consular Corps, Arnold Foote, Mr. Jespersen was lauded for his superb leadership, “inspiration and practical work, to make ideas become reality”.
“Our founding president, Vagn Jespersen, whom we honour tonight, is a thoughtful and wise person, who has the capacity to be innovative, decisive and to bring dreams to reality. One such dream was the realization of a world organization now called FICAC, which is why we all are gathered here today in Jamaica 24 years later,” he said.
“We value his work and will always be in his debt”, Mr. Foote added, noting that it was during the period of Mr. Jespersen’s leadership that the organization was recognized world wide as a non-governmental organization.
Mr. Jespersen, who remained at the helm of the FICAC for the period 1982 to 1995, later become president of the Danish Consular Corps, where he was revered for his service and positive influence. He has been honoured by many countries and organisations including his native Denmark, which presented him with the Danish Resistance Medal.